Marietta's Christmas Carol
by Snapegirlkmf
Summary: Mischief and merriment go hand in hand when Marietta comes to Hogwarts to give Severus a very special Christmas. Will the school survive? AU, Arista Snape series, mild spanking. COMPLETE!
1. Marietta Comes to Hogwarts

**Marietta Comes to Hogwarts**

It all began with a letter.

A letter that arrived ten days before Christmas, delivered to Professor Snape of Hogwarts School by Express Post. The return address on the envelope read, _DiSarno 432 Mystery Way, Freehold, NJ USA. _

Severus recognized the address immediately, this was not the first time he'd received letters from there. It seemed as if his little four-year-old niece, Marietta, wrote him every other week. _I wonder if it could be a Christmas card?_ he mused.

But what he found inside wasn't a card wishing him the joys of the season.

It was a cry for help.

_Dear Sev, ___

_I'm at my wits end. From morning till night the only words I hear out of Marietta's mouth are I miss Uncle Sev, when can I go and see him? Today? I don't want to wait till the fourth of July, it's too long. Why can't we go and see him for Christmas? He's all alone over there with Arista. I kept inventing one excuse after another until finally I realized that the only thing that would satisfy her was to write to you and ask you—would you mind if we came over and stayed three or four days before Christmas? If you'd rather not have an overactive four year old rampaging through your peaceful house, or have made other plans to celebrate Christmas at Hogwarts, I'll understand. And somehow, I'll make her understand, though that'd take a miracle, God knows. Still, they say 'tis the season for them. ___

_I know this is extremely short notice, and I apologize, but I was hoping she'd grow bored and forget about it. No such luck, I'm afraid. She's like a dog with a worn out bone, gnawing it to the marrow. Please write back ASAP, Sev. ___

_Anything to save my sanity. ___

_With haste and love, ___

_Sandy_

Severus read the letter once and then reread it, a smile quirking the corners of his mouth. He wasn't surprised his sister-in-law hadn't been able to convince Marietta to forget about a visit to see him, the kid was an Amarotti to the bone, and they were stubborner than ten mules.

He was also amused at Sandy's assumption that he'd have made plans for the holiday. Until recently, up until last year in fact, he'd spent Christmas at the school, alone except for Dumbledore. Last year, he'd spent it with Arista, at home in London, the first Christmas he'd had with a family member since his mother had died when he was sixteen. This year, he'd be celebrating the holiday with Tricia Greenbough as well, Arista's friend, since he'd unofficially adopted her over the summer, removing her from a terrible situation at home and a mother who was slowly destroying her with her selfish ways. But other than the girls, he'd made no other plans.

He considered Marietta's request for several minutes, picturing the eager little minx in his mind, with her devilish grin, huge blue eyes, and flyaway strawberry blond hair. She had the cherubic features of a Boticelli angel and a mischievous streak inherited from Lucifer himself. She often drove him crazy, but for all of that he loved her fiercely. And she, in turn, adored him, calling him her favorite uncle, and was not at all intimidated by his sometimes stern manner. Like all Amarotti women, she knew a decent man when she saw one.

And, truth be told, he'd missed her these past months as well. _Why not?_ he thought. _Why not have them over for an early Christams? It'll be a novel experience, me having relatives visit for a holiday. Half my students probably think I spend Christmas brooding like a bat in front of my fire, like Scrooge. Maybe once that was true, but no more. Not since Arista. Now I have someone to share the holidays with, there's no reason to be alone and miserable, wishing for something I never had. Yes, I'll write to Sandy and tell her to come for a short visit. Then maybe the little imp will get out of her hair for awhile. _

The fall term was pretty much over, he only had two more Potions finals to give and then grade and he was done with the semester. He would go home to Spinner's End with Arista and Trish and plan Christmas dinner. Hagrid would deliver the tree to his house same as always and he and the girls could decorate it and go shopping for presents in Diagon Alley and London.

Actually, he'd already made Trish's present, a pair of earrings and a necklace to match the silver and gold star bracelet he'd given her for her birthday in July. Tricia loved the bracelet, she almost never took it off and said it was the best present she'd ever gotten. He hoped she'd like the other pieces just as much, it was little enough considering the neglect she'd been forced to put up with from her parents, who were selfish morons in his opinion. Hopefully, this would be a holiday worth remembering.

He pulled out a quill from his desk drawer and began to write.

Thirty minutes later, he'd sent his reply off with Nightfall, his tawny owl, casting an Express Post spell on him so the letter would reach Sandy that night. Now the only thing he'd have to worry about was the menu for dinner and presents for Sandy, her husband Paul, and Marietta. He'd consult the girls, they probably had better ideas than he did, inveterate shoppers that they were.

***************  
The great bronze dragon, Fireflash, touched down lightly in the courtyard of Hogwarts School, landing so precisely his long tail didn't even disturb the various sculptures situated around the flagstone square. It was around eight o'clock in the evening, and most of the students were either studying, packing to go home, or sleeping.

Arista, Professor Snape, and Albus Dumbledore waited by the castle entrance to greet the weary travelers from America. At least Sandy and Paul were probably tired, Fireflash could fly three times the distance across the Atlantic and not get fatigued. As for Marietta, they could see her waving from the dragon's back excitedly, and telling her father to hurry up and unfasten her seatbelt.

"Hurry, Daddy!" Marietta cried, wriggling eagerly. Her black stuffed dog, Sevvy, was clutched tightly in her arms, she never went anywhere without him. "I want to say hi to Uncle Sev."

"Hold on a minute, Miss Impatience," her exasperated father said, trying to figure out the order he had to undo the straps. "I can never remember how to undo these blasted things."

Paul muttered a swear word under his breath and tugged at the right shoulder strap. It wouldn't budge.

"Problems, Paul?" Fireflash asked, swiveling his head around to peer at the wizard and his daughter. "Here, allow me." The bronze muttered a word in dragonspeech, the true language of all dragons, and the straps unbuckled themselves and drew back, allowing Marietta and Paul to climb out of their seat upon the dragonsaddle.

"Thanks, Flash!" Marietta said, then immediately started to run across the dragon's back.

"Marietta, wait!" Sandy called, undoing her own straps. "Let Daddy carry you."

"What for?" her intrepid child asked. "I can walk my own self." She promptly slid down the dragon's shoulder as if it were a playground slide, landing easily upon the ground.

She was dressed in a soft pink quilted jacket and matching boots with sheepskin cuffs and lavender mittens. Underneath her coat was a white turtleneck with a reindeer on it and white jeans embroidered with red hats. Her little face was flushed from the cold, framed by her hood, which flew off as she darted across the courtyard, revealing her bright strawberry blond hair, silken curls that tumbled down her back like a cape.

"Uncle Sev! Uncle Sev!" she yelled, making straight for the tall man in his black wizard's robes standing at the entrance. "Did you miss me?" she launched herself at him, her blue eyes sparkling in unfeigned delight.

"Hello, little minx!" he smiled, catching her up and hugging her to him tightly. "I missed you awfully, Marietta," he whispered in her ear.

"Me too, Uncle Sev," she admitted, kissing him on the cheek. "So much that Sevvy and I couldn't wait till the Fourth of July, so we came for Christmas instead."

"And I'm very glad that you did," her uncle said. "Did you enjoy riding on Fireflash, imp?"

"Oh yes! It was the bestest thing ever. Only I had to tie Sevvy's leash to me so he wouldn't get lost or fall off, 'cause Flash flies very very fast, Uncle Sev."

"But it's fun, isn't it?" asked Arista, grinning at her small cousin. "Hi, Marietta."

"Hi, Arista!" she reached out to give the older girl a hug as well. "Me and Sevvy missed you too! And Scout and Comfrey." She glanced around for the Snapes' dog and cat. "Where are they?"

"Around somewhere, they go where we do," Arista answered. Then she turned to greet the dragon and her aunt and uncle.

Sandy and Paul hugged and kissed her and Severus in turn. Sandy was a taller version of her older sister Amelia, who'd been Severus's wife. She had auburn hair and brown eyes and was wearing a red coat with brown faux fur about the hood, tan pants, and a green shirt with a snowman on it. Her boots were classic black leather.

Her husband, Paul, was a medium-sized man with curly blond hair, blue eyes, and an open genial countenance. He wore a long brown duster, brown boots, and a bright red and green scarf with green gloves. "Good to see you again, Sev," he greeted his brother-in-law. "Merry Christmas!"

"Same to you, Paul," Snape said, clapping the other man on the shoulder. "Hello, Fireflash," he called to the bronze, who gave him a dragonish smile.

"Hi, Severus. Been awhile, hasn't it? You look good, Potions Master. Bet those kids keep you on your toes, huh?"

"When they're not driving me crazy," Snape acknowledged. "Merry Christmas, Flash."

"Merry Christmas to you too, Sev and Arista." The bronze dipped his head in respect, then said, "Well, I'd best be off, before that crosswind off the Arctic Ocean hits and I have to detour back to New York. I'll see you in four days, Sandy and Paul."

"Goodbye and thanks again, Flash!" they called, waving as the dragon spread his wings and took off, rising higher and higher into the sky like a bronze streak until he vanished from sight.

Then Snape put a hand on Marietta's shoulder, she was standing next to him now, clutching Sevvy and staring about her curiously, and said, "Marietta, can you say hello to my Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore?" He turned her to face the purple-robed old wizard, who was smiling brightly, his eyes twinkling behind his half-moon glasses.

Marietta gazed up at Dumbledore, her blue eyes widening. Then she grinned and held out a hand. "Hi, I'm Marietta! Do you live here too like Uncle Sev?"

"I do, and it's a pleasure to meet you, Marietta," Dumbledore took her hand and shook it. "Welcome to Hogwarts, child."

"Thanks. This is Sevvy, he's my bestest friend," she held out her stuffed dog. "Uncle Sev gave him to me and he has a heartbeat and he loves you when you hug him like a real dog. Want to see?"

Dumbledore knelt and took the dog in his arms and hugged it. He smiled delightedly, for the dog had been enchanted by Severus and Arista so it could be a companion for the child. "This is a very special dog, child. And I can see that he loves you very much." He gently handed Sevvy back to her.

"He does, just like Uncle Sev," Marietta informed him. "All the other kids in my class want one like him, but there's only one Sevvy, and he's all mine." She hugged the dog possessively. Then she cocked her head and remarked, "You know, you look like Santa Claus with that long beard. Are you related to him?"

"Umm . . . I think we might be very distant cousins," Dumbledore replied, chuckling. "I've been known to wear red robes on occasion."

"Have you ever flown in a sleigh pulled by eight flying reindeer?" she queried. "Oh, I mean nine, 'cause you can't forget Rudolph. He's the red-nosed reindeer. D'you know about him?"

"No, but you can tell me all about him inside," the Headmaster said. "And while I don't fly a sleigh, I can fly on a broomstick." He turned to welcome the two older DiSarnos, who were blushing slightly at their daughter's unabashed comments.

"I apologize, sir, for her forwardness," Sandy began. "I've tried to teach her not to say the first thing that comes into her head . . ."

"That's quite all right, Mrs. DiSarno," Dumbledore laughed. "Children her age aren't being critical, just honest. I find it quite refreshing, actually, after dealing with some of my colleagues in the Ministry, But please, come inside, it's too chilly to discuss such matters outside. We have a warm fire and spiced cider awaiting you."

He led the way inside the castle. Marietta grabbed Severus by the hand and followed immediately, chattering away. "Do you have hot cocoa with marshmallows, Uncle Sev? 'Cause that's my favorite drink when it's cold out."

"I think we can manage that, Marietta," he said as they walked into the Great Hall.

The DiSarnos' trunks were placed in the entrance hall, they planned to spend the night in the castle and then travel to London on the Hogwarts Express in the morning, along with Trish and Arista. He had gone back to Spinner's End two days ago and decorated the house with the girls, returning to the school for his finals and to meet his relatives.

Soon they were sitting cozily in front of the roaring fire in the Great Hall, which had been decorated for Christmas with large swags of greenery tied with red velvet bows and jingly brass bells. A huge blue spruce was set in the corner of the hall, decorated with beautiful glass balls and other assorted ornaments. Five large upholstered chairs were gathered about the hearth and so was a tray with the promised cider and a small pot of hot cocoa with marshmallows. Also on the tray was an assortment of cookies and iced gingerbread cakes.

Marietta and Sevvy were settled upon Snape's knee, happily drinking a cup of cocoa with plenty of milk and marshmallows. She then chattered to him and Dumbledore, telling them the story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

"She slept almost the whole way here," Sandy explained. "That's why she's so wide awake now." She smothered a yawn behind her hand. "I don't know how we're going to get her to go to sleep tonight."

Severus winked at her. "I have an idea that might work." He turned to his niece, who was pretending to feed Sevvy bits of chocolate cookie. "Marietta, will you promise to go to sleep if I tell you a bedtime story?"

"But I slept lots and lots on the way over here," the little girl whined. "I'm not tired, Uncle Sev."

"Not even a little?"

"No," she shook her head firmly.

Sandy shot him a see-what-I-mean look.

Snape was unfazed by the child's answer. He knew the combination of the hot cocoa and the warmth of the fire was bound to make the girl sleepy eventually. "Very well. You just sit here and play with Sevvy and drink your cocoa while I talk with your mom."

"Okay," Marietta agreed, munching on a cookie and sipping her cocoa.

Arista was telling Paul and Dumbledore about her adventures in Washington state this past summer, helping the bronze dragons track down some dragonslaying wizards that had slaughtered five of the magnificent lizards. (see Arista Snape and the Bronze Dragons)

Sandy asked Professor Snape about his students and he in turn told her about the trials and tribulations of teaching young wizards. "Some of them behave worse than Marietta, and they don't have the excuse of being four years old," he sighed, ruffling his niece's hair.

She leaned back against him, cradled snugly in his arm, her eyes blinking sleepily. Sandy gently took the empty cup from her hand and set it on the tray. "Looks like somebody's ready for bed," she murmured.

"I'd say so," Snape nodded.

His niece yawned. "Don' wanna go to bed," she said stubbornly. "You promised me a story first."

"So I did. You'll have one, miss, provided you agree to go to bed right afterwards," he countered.

"I promise," she agreed, then snuggled into his shoulder.

Severus rose, holding the child in his arms, and said to Sandy, "Come, I'll show you where your room is."

Sandy followed swiftly, bidding Dumbledore and Arista good night, barely able to keep her eyes open.

Severus would have given the sleepy Marietta to her mother to get undressed and tucked into bed, but the four-year-old grew cranky and insisted _he_ help her instead.

Snape raised an eyebrow at that, and Sandy sighed and asked, "D'you mind, Sev? She's normally not like this."

"She's overtired, I think," he said, kneeling to tug off the girl's boots.

It took a little over five minutes to get the child in a pair of pajamas and tucked into the little bed against the wall, opposite her parents' large one. A tiny night lamp sparkled on a table next to the bed, for Snape had informed the house elves of Marietta's fear of the dark.

"Can I have a story now, Uncle Sev? I still remember the Frog Prince." She yawned again, Sevvy tucked under her arm.

He smiled, for that was the first bedtime story he'd ever told her, last Fourth of July. "Do you really? Well, have you ever heard the story of Sleeping Beauty?"

"No, but I know about Cinderella."

"This story is about a princess too, a beautiful girl named Aurora . . ."

He had gotten about halfway through the story before Marietta's eyes closed and she fell asleep. He bent and kissed her on the forehead. "Sweet dreams, minx."

Then he straightened and looked at Sandy, who was nearly asleep on her feet. "Good night, Sandy."

"Night, Sev. Thank you for that," she jerked her head at her child. "I'm so beat I couldn't string two sentences together."

"That's what I'm here for," he answered, embarrassed. "Don't worry about waking up early tomorrow. Breakfast is served at nine thirty or ten on the holidays." Then he departed the room and returned to the hall.

By then Arista had finished her tale of the bronze dragons and was also yawning sleepily. She rose without being told, bid her uncle and Dumbledore good night, hugged her father, and then went off to bed.

The three men remained awake a bit longer, but eventually they too sought their beds and slept dreamlessly until the dawn, which brought a coating of frost from the Highlands as well as an unexpected missive from Paul's mother, requesting he come home immediately, his father was gravely ill.

**A/N: This story takes place in Arista's fifth year, just after the incident in Potions Prodigy. Hope you all enjoy it!**


	2. Snape's Promise

**Snape's Promise**

"Now what do we do?" Sandy groaned upon learning the bad news from her husband that morning. They were talking softly in the hallway outside the guest room so they wouldn't wake their daughter. "I feel really bad, Paul. We only just arrived and now we have to leave. How are we going to explain that to Marietta?"

"We just tell her the truth," Paul sighed, his blue eyes downcast. "Her grandpa is sick and we have to go home. Or at least I do. You could stay here with her, you know. There's nothing you could really do for me at home, Sandy."

But his wife shook her head. "Don't be an idiot, Paul. You'll need me, if for nothing else than a shoulder to cry on, or somebody to vent to about your crazy sister and how your mom's driving you insane with her endless requests. I belong with you, not an ocean away. It wouldn't feel right, me having a good time while you were miserable and worried over your dad. Which brings us back to our original dilemma. How do we tell Marietta that her Christmas with Uncle Sev is cancelled?"

"Is there a problem with your room or something, Sandy?" Severus asked from behind them, he'd been coming down the hall to see if his relatives were awake yet.

"Sev!" Sandy exclaimed, startled by his soundless approach. "You move like a cat, I never even heard you. We've just received some bad news this morning." She quickly related their dilemma. "So you see, we have a major problem on our hands. I can't see any way this is going to end calmly. She's sure to throw a fit when we tell her she has to go home."

"Too bad. I'm not going to put up with her nonsense this time," Paul declared, his eyes flashing. "Either she behaves or she's going to get a good smack. I'm in no mood to deal with one of her tantrums, Sandy."

Severus frowned in disapproval. "I hardly think slapping her around will help her understand anything, Paul."

The other man scowled. "And what makes _you_ the expert on parenting, Severus? I'll bet you've lost it and given your kid a smack or two when she's gotten out of line."

Snape's eyes flashed, ice cold and furious. "I've never raised a hand to Arista, Paul, and I never will. That was my father's method of discipline. It'll _never_ be mine. Hitting a child is not a good way to correct recalcitrant behavior. I know that better than anyone." A muscle in his jaw throbbed. He'd grown up with a drunken abusive father who enjoyed using his fists on his son and he'd sworn long ago to never follow in his father's footsteps. Not the tiniest bit.

Paul had the grace to look abashed, hearing the unspoken words behind Severus's explanation. "I'm sorry, Sev. I was out of line with that comment." He sighed unhappily. "But it's just so frustrating. I hate disappointing her, but what can I do? I _have _to go home, my dad might be dying."

_And unlike me, you actually love and care for your father, _Snape thought enviously. _I didn't shed a tear when mine died, I was so happy to be free of him. Count yourself lucky, DiSarno, that you have a decent father and not a monster like I did._

Then an idea struck him out of the blue. For one moment he paused to think it over. _I must be crazy to even consider this,_ the rational part of his mind argued. _Having her here with her parents is one thing, but Marietta alone is a recipe for disaster. Severus, you __**know**__ that. Even with me keeping an eye on her, she'll manage to get into trouble and God knows I can't be with her every minute. No, this is a __**very**__ bad idea, it's asking for trouble. Don't do this, just let her go home. Sure, she'll be disappointed and upset, but that's life, right? Kid's going to have to learn that sometime, just like I did._

_But I don't want her to have to learn that lesson now, the way I had to, _the other part of his mind protested. _And I sure as hell don't want to be the one to teach it to her. It's Christmas, the season of hope and light, and I want to give her what I never had—good memories of the holiday, not tears and sadness. It's only a few days, after all. Between myself, Arista, and her friends, we should be able to ride herd on her, as they say in America._

His internal dialogue had taken about thirty seconds. Now he looked at his relatives and said, "I've thought of a solution to your problem." _I just hope I don't regret it,_ he added with a mental sigh of resignation. "Why don't you leave Marietta here with me while you go back and see your father, Paul? It's only a week at most. If something unforeseen should happen, I'll bring her back myself. But hopefully that won't be necessary. If all goes well, you could come back here and we can still celebrate the holiday. Will that suit you?"

There was dead silence in the hallway. Both DiSarnos gaped at him. Then Paul found his voice. "Severus, we can't ask you to do this. You've got your own obligations to see to, you don't have time to deal with Marietta too. She's like a whirlwind, you can't turn your back for a second. You have no idea of the mischief she can get up to, believe me."

"Oh, I think I do. Remember, I took her to the magehound exhibition," the Potions Master reminded him.

"But that was only a few hours, Sev. This will be days and you've still got tests to grade," Sandy said. "What will she be doing in the meantime?"

"She'll be with Arista," he answered smoothly. "Or one of the other professors, they're finished with their classes and they won't mind keeping her occupied for an hour or two while I finish up. Really, Sandy, it's better this way. She'll have a Christmas to remember fondly, not the Christmas that never was. Besides, I promised her in my letter and I try very hard not to break my promises. It sets a bad precedent, especially with a child her age," he said. _I can't believe I'm saying this,_ the cynical part of his mind snarled.

"Sometimes you don't have a choice," Paul began.

"This time you do. I'm giving you one, if you're willing to take it."

The two looked at each other questioningly. Something unspoken passed between them. Then, after a few minutes, they turned back to Snape.

"If you're _sure_ you want to do this, Sev, you can have her stay," Sandy said reluctantly. "Neither of us wanted to make her unhappy over Christmas and she's been begging us for months to see you, she'd be devastated if she had to leave now, but we'd make her if we had to."

"But now you don't," he repeated firmly. "Trust me, Sandy. I've handled troublemaking teenage wizards, I can handle one four-year-old girl. She can't even do magic yet."

"Thank God for that!" Snady exclaimed fervently. "She can get into plenty of trouble without it. She needs to be kept busy 24/7. otherwise she'll go looking for something to do—which is almost always something she's not supposed to."

"Like over half my students. Don't worry, Sandy. I'm prepared to deal with that. I can and will discipline her if necessary, though not with my hand or wand, I assure you. I'm no pushover, I know how to set limits and make sure they're obeyed. She won't be running wild through the school."

"So you _hope_," Paul chuckled. "Okay, Sev, you've twisted our arms. She can stay, at least until I figure out what's wrong with my dad. I pray it's not too serious, my mom tends to exaggerate and she's prone to dramatize a bit. If it _does_ turn out to be, God forbid, a critical situation, I'll send for her immediately, so he can see her one last time. But otherwise, we'll be back in a few days, hopefully in time for Christmas like we'd planned."

"It's settled then. Marietta stays here with me at Hogwarts," Snape stated. _And God help us all,_ the cynical part of his mind cackled. _The school might never be the same. This will be a Christmas to remember, all right. I just hope it's not a disaster._


	3. Chaos in the Greenhouse

**Chaos In the Greenhouse**

Both Sandy and Paul had a long talk with their daughter before packing up to leave for America, mostly stressing the fact that she was to be on her best behavior and listen to her uncle. The little girl was overjoyed at the prospect of having her Uncle Sev all to herself, and would have promised to stand on her head if they asked her to.

"Go and see Papa Jim, Daddy. Me and Sevvy will stay here and keep Uncle Sev company," she told him solemnly. "He needs us here."

Paul bit his lip to keep from laughing. Severus needed an overactive toddler the way he needed a hole in his head. But he managed to keep a straight face and said only, "Just remember your promise, miss. You're to do whatever Severus says, no ifs, ands, or buts. He's the boss, Marietta, got me?"

"Yes. I'll be good. I don't like it when Uncle Sev's mad at me."

"That's my good girl," Paul kissed the top of her head, wondering why she didn't feel like that if _he_ was mad at her? "Be good and I'll see you in a few days."

"What's a few days? Like a week?"

"Yeah, about that."

"Okay. Tell Papa Jim I hope he feels better and Merry Christmas from me and Sevvy. I'll make him a get well picture."

"I will. Have a good time with Uncle Sev and try not to drive the poor man crazy, okay?" He tweaked her nose.

"Okay, Daddy." Then she smiled brightly at him. "I'm hungry, let's go eat breakfast."

He took her hand and they went downstairs to the dining hall.

There were few students in the hall at nine in the morning, most were sleeping in or had left for the holiday break. A few glanced curiously at Marietta and Paul, but then turned back to eating sleepily. None of them seemed shocked to see a little girl in their dining hall, Paul supposed they'd seen stranger things appear out of thin air.

Severus was already seated at the table, along with Dumbledore, Sandy, Minerva McGonagall, and Pomona Sprout. Marietta's face lit up when she caught sight of her uncle, half-dragging her father across the floor.

"Marietta, relax!" Paul ordered softly. "He's not going anywhere."

"I know. But I want to sit by him."

Paul sighed and resigned himself to being pulled along in her wake.

"Good morning, Uncle Sev!" she said once they had reached the table.

"Morning, imp. Did you sleep well?" Severus reached down to help her onto the chair next to him.

"Uh huh. Only I missed half the story you told me, so you're gonna have to tell it over, okay?" she said seriously. Bedtime stories were very important to her.

"Tonight, then," he agreed. Then he introduced her to the other professors, both of whom were delighted to have a little girl to fuss over.

"She's adorable, Severus," Pomona smiled. "I'll be happy to help you keep an eye on her."

Severus shot her a grateful look, then turned to Marietta and said, "I'm going to be a little busy today in my classroom, so how would you like to help Professor Sprout in her garden?"

"To plant flowers?" Marietta's brow wrinkled. "But it's winter."

"I know, but we can plant some in my greenhouse," Professor Sprout explained. "Right now I'm growing poinsettias and silver bells for Christmas."

"Silver bells? Like in the song?"

"Yes, dear. Magic flowers that chime when the wind blows," answered the Herbology teacher. "Would you like to help me with them?"

Marietta nodded. "Sure, as long as Sevvy can come too," she held up her stuffed dog. "He's my bestest friend."

Pomona smiled genially. "Of course Sevvy is welcome in my greenhouse. We'll give him a job too,"

"He's very good at digging," Marietta told her seriously. "That's 'cause he's a dog and all dogs can dig, even magehounds. Sevvy's a black magehound—the only one in the world. Maybe he can help us dig holes for the flowers."

"Yes, that's a wonderful idea, Marietta." Professor Sprout said. "After breakfast you can meet me in the greenhouse. Your Uncle Sev can show you where it is."

Professor Snape sighed in relief. Well, that was one problem solved, at least for the morning. Marietta chattered to him throughout the rest of the meal, so much so that he had to tell her to take a breath and eat something. Luckily, she was not a difficult child when it came to food, and ate just about anything, except green vegetables, without a problem.

He noted in some amusement that Sevvy had his own small plate, from which Marietta fed him pretend bits of food, just the way Sandy had described in one of her letters.

After breakfast, they bid goodbye to Sandy and Paul, who had called Fireflash back to take them home again. Marietta did not seem at all upset to see them go, she waved at them as the bronze took off until they were out of sight. Only then did she look at her uncle and say with a faint quiver in her voice, "Uncle Sev, can I sleep with you tonight? I don't like sleeping all by myself in that big room. Even with Sevvy, it's scary."

"Of course you may. I was going to suggest that myself. We'll move your things downstairs right away and I'll ask Dobby or one of the other house elves to move your bed too." He never would have allowed her to sleep two floors away from him, even had she wanted to.

Arista raised an eyebrow at the thought of her father sharing a room with a child, wondering if she should offer to have Marietta sleep with her instead. But when she suggested it, Severus said no, it was better if Marietta remained with him.

"I know what kind of hours you girls keep up there in your dormitory, Arista, now that your finals are over. Staying up till two in the morning discussing sales in Diagon Alley is not what I had in mind when I agreed to watch her."

"Aww, Dad, we wouldn't keep her up all night," Arista said. "We'd make sure she went to bed at a reasonable hour."

"Oh, sure. A 'reasonable hour' to you teenagers is twelve midnight, don't think I don't know that." Snape shook his head firmly. "No, Marietta stays with me, where I can make certain she goes to bed at eight-thirty, or around there." Then he added more kindly at his daughter's hurt expression, "But you can help me out tomorrow, keeping her busy while I grade my first batch of final exams."

"Trish, Mel, and Kit will help me too," Arista told him. _I sure wish Drake were here, he's the only one of us who has experience in dealing with little kids, since he's got a younger sister. The rest of us are only children or the youngest in our families,_ she thought pensively. Then she shrugged and figured she could deal with Marietta just fine, there were plenty of games to play about the grounds, and also Scout and Comfrey to play with if she grew bored with human company.

Severus scooped his niece up in his arms. "Come on, little minx, let's get you over to the greenhouse. Professor Sprout's waiting for you."

"And Sevvy," Marietta reminded him, hugging the dog tightly and smiling.

"Right. Can't forget Sevvy," the Potions Master added, masking a wince. He wondered how long it would be before someone figured out Marietta's stuffed dog had been named after him. If he knew Pomona, she'd already figured it out, but was kind enough not to mention it, and so spare his dignity somewhat.

"I'm going to find Trish, see if she needs help packing or whatever," Arista said. "See you later, Marietta."

"Bye, Arista!" the little girl waved, watching her red-haired cousin hurry off in the opposite direction towards the castle.

On the way to the greenhouse, Snape pointed out the Whomping Willow in the distance and also the Black Lake. He told her firmly she was never to go near those places alone. "The lake's too cold for swimming in this time of year, even if you knew how, and I don't want you falling in and catching your death of a chill, understand?"

"Yes, Uncle Sev. But how can a chill kill you?"

"It could make you very sick and that's what could kill you. But you don't need to worry about that if you do as I say, young lady, and stay away from the lake."

"Okay," she agreed, for getting sick and maybe dying held no appeal to her. "But why can't I go near the funny tree?"

"Because that funny tree isn't nice to little girls. It likes to swat them with its branches and knock them halfway to the moon."

Her eyes widened. "Really?"

He nodded seriously. "I'm not kidding, Marietta. That tree is very dangerous and it could kill you easily. So don't go near it ever, understand?"

She nodded. "Are the other trees here mean too?"

"No, that's the only one. The other trees are just trees and won't hurt you." he reassured her. "Unless you fall out of them, that is."

She eyed a large oak consideringly as they went by. "They're all too big for me to climb."

Snape quietly thanked God for that small bit of mercy. And she didn't have a broomstick, so he didn't have to worry about her crashing on it.

He delivered her to Professor Sprout, telling the Herbology teacher he'd be back after his class to pick Marietta up. "We'll have lunch and you can tell me all about the flowers you planted, all right?" He knelt down and hugged her.

For one moment she clung to him, her little arms wrapped tight about his neck, and for an instant he feared she wasn't going to stay there without him. But Marietta proved more resilient than she looked, and she released him after a long moment. "Bye, Uncle Sev! I'll plant a silver bell for you." Then she ran over to Professor Sprout and asked, "Where do we plant them? Sevvy says he wants to dig the first hole."

Pomona grinned down at the eager child, then glanced up at Professor Snape, who was eyeing his niece with a slightly worried expression. "Go on, Severus. She'll be fine. I can tell she has experience in a garden, right, Marietta?"

"Oh, yes. My Grandpa Leo is an earth mage and he lets me help him sometimes. He taught me how to plant cucumbers with seeds and a watermelon too."

"My goodness! You really _are_ an expert then!" Pomona chuckled. "Come over here, Marietta. You'll need a pair of gloves and a trowel."

Snape left them happily discussing all the plants Marietta had helped Leo with back in his garden in New Jersey and went down to his dungeon classroom to give his group of sixth year NEWT students their final Potions practicum. Their exam was in two parts, a written portion, which they would take that afternoon, and a lab. He'd chosen an Anti-Nausea potion for their exam, which tasted like peppermint ice cream, but was an extremely difficult draft to brew for all its innocent pink appearance.

Two hours had gone by before his last student had finished brewing, and Snape had marked his results down in his green grade book. He dismissed his student, then cast a locking charm over his potions cabinets and his office, taking no chances of a curious child wandering down here and experimenting with his ingredients, many of which were poisonous if handled incorrectly or swallowed.

He wondered how Marietta had gotten on with Pomona, who was the most friendly and easy-going of all the faculty. When he entered the greenhouse, he found Marietta putting a large red bow around a medium-sized earthenware pot containing a silver bell plant. The silver bell grew like a vine, twining up and around a candycane striped pole, its vivid green leaves framing silvery bell-shaped flowers with tiny golden clappers in the center of them. When the wind blew, the flowers emitted a soft tinkling sound, like bells chiming.

Pomona planted them about the grounds every winter, and their sweet chimes could be heard from dawn till dusk, when they closed up their petals and slept.

Beside Marietta's foot was Sevvy, looking a bit soiled, but otherwise unharmed from his sojourn in the greenhouse, digging holes. Professor Sprout was patting the dirt down around a pink poinsettia and at first didn't hear Snape come in. Then she straightened and caught sight of the Potions Master, standing quietly observing, his hands tucked in his sleeves. "Oh, hello, Severus. How did your exam go? Did they all pass?"

"Most of them," he replied with a grimace. "We'll see how they do on the written part this afternoon."

Marietta whirled around and rushed over to him, her blue eyes shining. "Uncle Sev, guess what? I helped Miss Pomona plant lots and lots of silver bells and poinsettias. We mixed all the dirt together and added Quick Gro and then we put them in the pots with water. Sevvy and I dug lots of holes." She displayed her gloved hands, which were smeared with black dirt, as was her left cheek.

"She was a very energetic helper," Professor Sprout added, her eyes twinkling. "I don't think I've ever had a student as eager to dig holes or use a watering can."

"Then she behaved for you, I take it?" he asked, breathing a profound sigh of immense relief. He'd half-expected a catastrophe to occur, given his niece's reputation.

"Yes, although there was a, uh, slight accident with my Gigantor Venus flytrap," Pomona admitted softly.

Severus raised an eyebrow. "An accident?" _Oh God, what did she do to it?_ he wondered in alarm. _I knew it was too good to be true._

"It nearly swallowed Sevvy," Marietta interrupted. "He was getting the little spade from under the table for me, it had fallen next to this huge pot, when the gigantic monster plant swooped down and grabbed him right up, Uncle Sev!" She imitated the Venus flytrap's motion with her hand. "So I screamed at it _really loud_ to put Sevvy down and grabbed his paw. It picked _me_ up too, but I wouldn't let go, 'cause then Sevvy would have gotten eaten."

Snape winced, for he knew exactly how loud Marietta could scream. Pomona was lucky she hadn't gone deaf. "Then what happened?"

"I rushed over as soon as I realized what had happened," Pomona continued. "By then, I think my Gigantor realized he'd bitten off more than he could chew, so to speak. He was thrashing about, hissing, but for some reason he wouldn't open up and let the dog go, even with your niece screeching and hitting him with her trowel."

Professor Snape flinched, he could just picture the chaos in the greenhouse, with the ten foot tall Venus flytrap jerking about and dragging a howling four-year-old along with it. He glanced about at the rows of plants, noting that nothing seemed damaged. "Was anything broken?"

Pomona sighed. " A few pots and a tray of potting soil got knocked over, but nothing that wasn't easily mended, Severus."

Snape shook his head, for he doubted the teacher was telling him the whole truth. From the sound of things, the Herbology professor's classroom must have been a disaster, even if she'd never admit it. "How did you finally manage to get Gigantor to let go?"

"I offered him a dead mouse, it's his favorite snack," said Professor Sprout.

"And then I socked it one right in the nose for trying to eat Sevvy," Marietta admitted proudly.

Severus groaned.

"Poor Gigantor. I think he was quite shocked," the Herbology teacher lamented. "But I doubt he'll be tempted to swallow any more stuffed magehounds."

"Marietta, didn't you promise me you were going to behave today?" Severus began, giving her a stern frown.

"But I _was_, Uncle Sev," she replied stoutly, looking at him fearlessly. "It wasn't Sevvy's fault that mean old flytrap tried to eat him! And I _had_ to help him, 'cause nobody hurts my Sevvy and gets away with it."

"Be that as it may, young lady, you don't go around beating up other people's plants," he scolded softly.

"He was _eating_ my dog!" his niece declared stubbornly, her little chin thrust out. "And my mom says you have to protect your friends and he's my bestest friend, you know."

"Don't scold her, Severus, please," Pomona intervened. "Gigantor's not hurt, not really, only his pride, I suspect, and there was no harm done that I couldn't fix with a simple repairing charm."

Severus relented, then said, "What else did you do, Marietta?"

"Then I helped clean up the big mess that nasty Venus trap made and then we finished planting the silver bells. See, here's one for you, like I promised."

She gestured proudly to the silver bell she'd been tying the bow around, it hung a bit lopsidedly, but Severus found it charming. "Thank you, Marietta. I'll bring it home and plant it in my flower bed. Until then, however, I'll leave it in Professor Sprout's care."

"Just let me know when you're leaving, Severus, and I'll have it waiting at your rooms." Professor Sprout said. "Marietta can tell you how to care for it, right?"

"You need to give it plenty of sun and two cups of Quick Gro every third day. And water, just enough to keep the soil damp," the child recited proudly. "Did I get it all right, Miss Pomona?"

"You did indeed, Marietta. She's extremely bright for her age, Severus."

"I know. She's too smart for her own good, right, imp?" He knelt to wipe the smudge of dirt off her cheek. "Give your gloves back to Pomona and we'll go wash up and have lunch."

"Good, 'cause I'm starving," Marietta announced, then pulled off her gloves and handed them to Professor Sprout. "Here you go." Then she turned to leave, picking up Sevvy as she did so.

Severus coughed sharply. "Hold it, miss. You're forgetting something, aren't you?"

"I am?"

"You need to thank Professor Sprout for showing you how to plant silver bells," he reminded.

"Oh. Thanks, Miss Pomona, for teaching me. I had fun, except for Sevvy's nearly getting eaten. Bye!" Then she darted out the door before Snape could stop her.

"You're welcome, Marietta!" Professor Sprout called after her.

"Excuse me, but I'd better catch her before something else happens," Snape said hastily. "I appreciate you watching her and I apologize for any damage she might have caused," he said over his shoulder. _Her first day here and she gets into a fight with a giant Venus flytrap. What's next?_ he wondered as he emerged from the greenhouse, catching up to his intrepid niece in three strides.

**Severus might not want to know the answer to that question!**


	4. Of Potions and Prowling

**Of Potions and Prowling**

That afternoon, he decided it would be safer if he kept an eye on her himself. So he armed himself with a ream of parchment and a box of ninety-five crayons. He placed her off to the right of his desk, close enough for him to watch her and his students taking the written final at the same time. The material on the exam was quite difficult, and the students would take the full hour and forty-five minutes to complete it, most likely.

Marietta wrote her name and Sevvy's name in a variety of colors on the parchment. She then drew various pictures for quite a long while. But a four-year-old's attention span has limits and after an hour she grew bored and came up and tugged on his sleeve.

"What is it, Marietta?" he glanced down at the little moppet. Today she was wearing red pants and a knitted snowman sweater.

"I'm sick of drawing. I want to make a potion like your students, Uncle Sev. Can you show me?"

"Uh . . .let me think for a minute." he replied, his mind racing. _What kind of potion could I give a child her age to make?_ He thought fast, at last coming up with something he thought would keep her busy and used normal cooking ingredients.

"All right, Marietta. We're going to make a Kaleidoscope Potion," he improvised, making up a name for it on the fly.

He looked over at his students, most had their noses buried in their exam, but he caught a few eyeing him curiously. At least until he shot them one of his famous glowers and they hastily dropped their gazes back to their papers. By now most of them knew his niece was staying with him and Marietta's presence didn't elicit any wide-eyed stares or gasps of astonishment.

With a flick of his wand he summoned a child-sized cauldron, a container of milk, a small measuring cup, and a box of food coloring. From his desk he retrieved a toothpick and a small jar of vegetable oil.

Marietta watched him intently as he carefully placed all the ingredients on her desk. "Now then, Miss DiSarno, I want to measure out two cups of milk and pour it into the cauldron. Can you do that for me?"

"Yes," she carefully picked up the container of milk, it was a one liter size, and poured a cupful into the small measuring cup. "That's one," she said, and poured it inside the cauldron.

"Good. And then?"

She poured the second cupful then looked up at him. "Now what?"

"Now you add the food coloring." He indicated the little bottles. "Pick three colors and add one drop—one mind—to the milk."

She chose red, green, and yellow. She squeezed a drop of each into the cauldron carefully. The drops quickly flowed into one another and swirled on top of the milk.

"Now add another color," he instructed, and she added blue.

"I'll help you with this next step." He took the toothpick and dipped the tip of it the bottle of vegetable oil. Then he handed the toothpick to her. "Touch the tip of the toothpick to the potion and see what happens."

Marietta obeyed. As soon as the oil on the toothpick met the milk, it caused the drops of food coloring to move and swirl, creating a beautiful pattern of colors. "Neat! That's so cool, Uncle Sev!"

"And if you move it around, like this," he gently moved her hand about, so the swirling colors appeared to dance. "It makes even more patterns. Just like a kaleidoscope."

"How's it _do_ that? Is it magic?"

"Well, it's a kind of magic," he hedged. Actually all that was involved was a simple chemical reaction, namely that oil repelled the water-based food coloring. "Now, you play with that and see how many patterns you can make while I go monitor my students." _That ought to keep her busy,_ he thought in satisfaction, vanishing the items from her desk. Like a kaleidoscope, the colors could arrange themselves into different patterns each time she touched them with the toothpick.

He put on his forbidding face and walked around inbetween the rows of desks, making sure no one had access to notes or had written answers on their desks or hands—which were old Muggle tricks, but they'd been tried before, since the quills were spelled with Anti-Cheat charms.

Thus far, everything was normal. Students bit their lips nervously or sweated in panic trying to recall a formula, but nobody was trying to sneak a look at their books or had suspicious scraps of paper lying about. He cast a quick glance over his shoulder and saw that Marietta was still playing with the Kaleidoscope Potion, enthralled by the way the colors shifted and changed.

But at last the exam was over and he collected all the papers and dismissed his students, some of whom were bold enough to wish him Merry Christmas before departing. He tucked the papers in his desk and said, "Marietta, would you like to clean up and then we can eat supper?"

"Okay. I really like this potion, Uncle Sev. It's almost as good as that spell you did for me on Fourth of July."

"_Prismari_," he recalled with a smile. "We'll have to cast that later." He spoke a word that emptied out the contents of her little cauldron. "_Evanesco!_" Then he placed her artwork, paper, and crayons inside it and put it under her desk. "There. If you want to draw some more, you know where the crayons and paper are."

She showed him her pictures, telling him how she'd made one for her parents, grandparents, Arista, Trish, Mel, Kit, and all the teachers. "And I'm making an extra-special one for you, only it's a surprise and you can't see it now."

"A surprise for me?" he arched an eyebrow, amused. "I'm sure it'll be as good as the last picture you sent me."

"Better. I draw much better than that now," she told him. She picked up Sevvy's leash. "Come on, Sevvy. Time for dinner." She followed the Potions Master from the classroom, the black dog trailing after her like a misplaced shadow.

Eight-thirty was bedtime and after she'd brushed her teeth and gotten into pajamas, she was more than ready to have Severus tell her a story. She snuggled up on his lap and listened to him tell the story of Sleeping Beauty, and this time she remained awake till he reached the end of it. " . . .and they all lived happily ever after," Severus finished the traditional tale. "How was that, Marietta?"

"I really like that one!" she said, then yawned hugely. "But I guess I'm a little sleepy."

He tucked her in bed with Sevvy, making sure she had plenty of blankets, for his quarters were sometimes chill and damp, since they were in the dungeon of the castle. "Sweet dreams, Marietta," he said softly, kissing her goodnight.

She kissed him back. "Night, Uncle Sev. Love you."

"Love you too. Now close those eyes, miss."

She obeyed and within moments was sound asleep.

He went to bed as well, for he had to be awake around two o'clock to help Filch patrol the halls. Unfortunately, his peaceful sleep was interrupted by Marietta sobbing, she'd had a nightmare about a giant Venus flytrap eating her. It took twenty minutes of holding and rocking, plus a glass of warm milk with a drop of a mild sleeping draft in it to soothe her back to sleep. And when she did fall asleep, she ended up in his bed, curled against him like a puppy, gripping his hand for dear life.

As a result of his interrupted sleep schedule he was irritable and in no mood to be lenient with rule-breakers when he arose for his nightly rounds. He warded the door of his quarters before setting out with Filch and Mrs. Norris, leaving Scout on guard inside, stretched out on the rug in the bedroom. If any mischief-making student happened to break the ward on his door, they would be greeted by ninety five pounds of snarling magehound, a sufficient deterrent to any delinquent teenager.

Irritable and grouchy, he came upon Brittany Marsh kissing James Hathaway in the corridor beside the humpbacked witch statue. Neither of them were his favorite student, Marsh was a spoiled little snot and her boyfriend wasn't much better, he was a conceited idiot too, getting by on his fabulous looks alone and his reputation as Marsh's current flame. They were sworn enemies of Arista and her friends, a fact which he knew quite well. Both of them were in Slytherin and both of them knew better than to flout school rules like that.

Their defiance roused his temper, not that it would have taken much given his mood, and he surprised them with a pointed cough and one of his severest scowls. "A bit early for mistletoe and kisses aren't we, Marsh and Hathaway?" he inquired acidly.

The two started guiltily, blushing and eyeing him warily. "Professor! We, uh, never expected . . ." Hathaway began awkwardly.

"Obviously." He drawled, eyes flashing dangerously. "That'll be ten points from Slytherin for your poor timing and your attitude. Now get back to bed, you two, and save your displays of public affection for later. Move!" He was furious at them for making him take points from his House, but he did it to teach them a much needed lesson, since they thought they were above everyone and could get away with whatever they wanted.

Brittany gaped at him. "B-but Professor Snape, it's Christmas . . .give us a break why don't you?"

He fixed her with a warning look. "Just because it's a holiday is no reason for you to disregard school rules, Marsh. As long as you are in Hogwarts you will abide by them, am I clear?"

"Yes, sir," she said sullenly. She wore a pout on her face that reminded him of his niece, though she was sixteen to Marietta's four.

"Well, what are you waiting for? A personal invitation? Go!" He pointed back in the direction of the Slytherin dormitory.

They walked away, Marsh muttering furiously to Hathaway, "Can you believe it? He takes ten points from his own House just 'cause he caught us _kissing_, for Godsake! It's not a bloody crime, you know! Bet he's just jealous, the old bat, 'cause he's never been kissed by a hot girl in his life."

"Brittany, shut up!" Hathaway warned, too late.

"I heard that, Marsh!" Snape snarled, taking a threatening step towards them. "Ten more points for your disrespectful mouth, young lady. If I were you, I'd not say another word, or else you'll serve detention with me tomorrow morning, end of the semester or not."

Brittany gasped and scurried away, followed a moment later by her boyfriend.

Snape watched them go, his jaw clenched. _The nerve of that wretched girl!_ he thought furiously. _I'm jealous of her indeed, the obnoxious little snot! Ha! My Amelia could kiss better than her any day of the week, and she was ten times as pretty too._

Thinking of his late wife, whom he missed fiercely this time of year, put him in an even worse mood, and he finished his rounds in a state of depression and aggravation that was frightening to behold. Luckily, he didn't encounter any more students breaking curfew. He returned to his rooms wearily, more than ready to lose himself to sleep's tender mercy.

Marietta didn't even stir when he climbed into bed, falling asleep an instant later. In his dreams, he was with Amelia again, and she took him in her arms and kissed him until he was breathless. Then she laughed and whispered, "I love you, Sev. Merry Christmas, sweetheart." He hugged her close, burying his face in her auburn hair, aching for her touch unbearably.

Only to wake clutching empty air, the one he longed for forever beyond his reach, lost to him for all eternity. _Amelia, how I miss you!_ he thought sadly, lying back down and burying his face in his pillow, bitter tears seeping out from under his lids as he recalled their last time together, wishing like blazes for one he could never have again this side of heaven. Loneliness and longing swamped him, but he stubbornly blinked away his tears, refusing to give into them.

He turned his head and caught sight of Marietta, sleeping peacefully beside him, her little face angelic in repose. _In Arista and in you, little minx, my Amelia lives on. In that way, at least, I'll never lose her._

He sighed softly and reached out to touch his niece's cheek tenderly. _Precious child, may you grow up safe and happy, all your dreams fulfilled, unlike mine._ Then he closed his eyes and fell asleep, Marietta's head resting on his arm.

**Well, the day ended on a good note, but just wait until you see what happens next! It involves Trelawney!**


	5. Tempest in a Teapot

**Tempest in a Teapot**

The next morning, he had planned to grade his sixth year written exams while Arista and her friends watched Marietta. He estimated that would take him at least two hours, then he would need to get set up for his last set of exams, which were seventh year ones. They'd be graduating come spring, and these tests were among the most challenging and advanced he ever gave.

Only those students who showed a marked aptitude for potion making ever sat these exams, and this year there were twelve students in this class.

He quickly wrote the exam topic on the board and the time they had to brew the potion—two hours. He'd chosen a Vanishing Solution, one of the trickiest potions in the textbook, and carefully laid out the necessary ingredients on a table. The seventh years would be required to locate the recipe, choose the ingredients for it, and work independently to make the solution in the time allotted. This potion was usually made with a partner, because of the variety of ingredients and the timing, but to make it more challenging, he'd ordered his students to work alone.

He settled at his desk, green quill in hand, a goblet of cider at his elbow, and began to mark his NEWT exams. He'd gotten halfway through the pile, busily writing comments with his quill, when Arista knocked at his office door. "Come in."

"Dad, do you have an extra copy of Practical Potions magazine? I can't find mine, and Professor McGonagall needs to look at an article on a shapechanging solution."

He set down his quill. "I think I have one around somewhere, but tell Minerva she shouldn't believe everything they print in there. Some of the authors aren't reputable masters and they make up fake solutions sometimes, so she should check with me before ordering anything from them."

He rummaged around on his desk, locating the magazine in a few minutes. "Here." He handed it to his daughter. "What've you been doing with Marietta?"

"Um, we were playing tag with Scout until twenty minutes or so ago, when Professor Trelawney saw us and invited Marietta up to her rooms to have a small tea party."

"A tea party? God help us all," Snape groaned. "And you let her go by herself?"

"Yeah, why? It's not like Trelawney's dangerous or anything, Dad. A little flaky, maybe, but she's about as harmful as a June bug." Arista laughed, puzzled by his reaction.

"I know that. I was more concerned with Marietta's behavior. Sybill Trelawney is not known for her practicality or her skill with children, especially ones like Marietta, who are mischief squared."

"I'm sure she'll be fine, Dad. What harm could there be in a tea party?"

Severus bit his lip. "Nothing, usually, but something tells me I ought to go past Sybill's room and make sure Marietta isn't playing with her Tarot deck or her crystal ball." He rose to his feet.

"Dad, relax. Why are you so worried about this?"

"Because around your cousin, a simple thing can grow into a disaster in two seconds flat. I just want to make sure she hasn't tied Sybill to the couch or anything."

Arista followed him as he made his way upstairs to Trelawney's tower suite, which was connected to her classroom by a small wooden door hung with strands of multi-colored beads. Snape prayed fervently that all he would see when he arrived was Marietta having a nice ladylike tea with the quirky Divination teacher. If it were any other teacher, he wouldn't have worried so much, but Trelawney tended to get distracted by a dust mote settling on a table and go off into one of her fake trances, trying to find the hidden meaning in a random act of chance. That would leave Marietta to her own devices, never a wise thing to do.

No sooner had they started up the tower stairs, they were hailed by Trelawney herself, who told them she'd just had the most interesting conversation with the headmaster on the conjunction of Orion into the Third House with Venus rising and the possibilities it represented.

"That's very interesting to an astrologer, Sybill," Snape said impatiently. "But I'm not interested in astrological portents right now. Where's Marietta? Arista said you were having a tea party with her."

"I was. She's a most charming child, Severus. She told me she liked my tea very much and my rooms reminded her of a rainbow." Trelawney beamed.

_A rainbow gone mad,_ Severus thought with a shudder of distaste, recalling the Divination professor's love of bright colors that clashed with each other in lurid combinations that no other person in the world could find pleasing. "Yes, but where is she _now_, Sybill?"

"I left her in my rooms, of course, when I went to speak with the Headmaster," Sybill answered airily.

"For how long?"

The Divination teacher shrugged. "Probably half-an-hour at most."

"Good God, Sybill! You can't leave a four-year-old unattended for half-an-hour," he cried in alarm. _Especially not __**this**__ four-year-old,_ he thought in dread.

"Quit fussing so, Severus," Trelawney laughed. "I'm sure she's fine, she probably fell asleep on my couch, her and that sweet stuffed dog of hers. Sevvy, she calls it. Says it's her best friend. She reminds me of myself, I had a ragdoll named Miss Tabitha when I was a little girl, it was my favorite toy," she said, then opened the door to her suite. "See, nothing to worry about—oh, my stars!" She clapped a hand to her mouth, looking as if she were going to faint. "The auras have gone mad! Look at my cups, my tea leaves . . ."

Severus peered over her shoulder, and at first glimpse saw nothing amiss. Trelawney's taste in interior decorating always gave him a slight headache, for her violet sofa clashed horribly with her red carpet and drapes and the riot of rainbow throw pillows was enough to make a designer run screaming down the street.

He spotted Marietta seated at a lace-covered table under a beaded chandelier, apparently having a pretend tea party of her own with Sevvy and a brown teddy bear. The table was covered with what looked like the remains of iced cakes and what appeared to be various saucers and cups filled with tea leaves. All kinds of cups lay scattered about, some on the table and some on the floor, amid open canisters and tins of tea, some of which had toppled over, spilling tea leaves on the red carpet. A few of the cups had fallen as well, for one or two lay shattered next to a bookcase.

"Oh dear! Oh dear!" Trelawney was moaning. "My preserved blends . . .my Dresden china . . .!" She was actually wringing her hands.

Severus swore under his breath. _You utter idiot, why did you leave her alone in there?_ he wanted to shout, but reined in his temper, for there was no sense in yelling at Sybill, who was clearly beside herself and had never had any common sense to begin with.

"Sybill, I apologize, I can help you clean up," he began. "See, you can't leave her alone for a minute, she's into everything . . ."

"No, Severus, that's quite all right. I will . . .see to this myself. The influences are quite disturbed by this incident . . .I must make sure all the tea leaves are back in their proper tins, it's very important for accurate predictions, you see. It would be best, Professor Snape, if you would remove your niece from here immediately." She passed a hand over her eyes dramatically. "Oh, the auras . . . . I don't know how my Inner Eye shall cope . . ."

Severus rolled his eyes, wondering how she could stand to live in a place with screaming red curtains that looked like a cross between a teashop and a gypsy tent gone insane. He walked carefully into the room, pausing beside the violet sofa, his hands on his hips. "Marietta DiSarno, what in the world are you doing?"

She turned about. "Hi, Uncle Sev. Sevvy and I were having a tea party with Mr. Bear and predicting the future like Sybill with all the tea leaves," she babbled, then trailed off when she caught sight of the disapproving scowl on his face. "Uh . . .we didn't mean to knock over the one stack of cups, it was an accident."

"Marietta, what did I tell you about touching other people's things?"

She squirmed guiltily. "Umm . . .that I shouldn't." She gave him a sheepish grin. "I forgot, ' cause Sevvy wanted to try the other kind of tea instead, so—"

"Never mind the excuses, miss. We're leaving right now, and you're going to apologize to Professor Trelawney for this mess and then we're going to have a long talk about your behavior, young lady."

Her lower lip quivered. "Am I in trouble?"

"Very big trouble," he answered sharply. "Come here, you owe Sybill an apology for breaking her cups."

For an instant he thought she was going to refuse, but then she took Sevvy off of the cushion beside her and walked reluctantly towards him. He set a hand on her shoulder and steered her towards the door, where Sybill stood muttering, her hands pressed to her cheeks, prophesying doom and gloom, no doubt.

"Sybill, my niece has something she wishes to tell you," he nudged Marietta. "Well? Go on."

"I'm sorry I played with your cups and your tea leaves, Miss Sybill. But it was a really fun tea party."

Severus bit back a groan, then shot a glare at Arista, who had a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter at the little girl's comment. "It's _not_ funny!" he snapped at her before he picked up Marietta and made his way past the distraught Seer down the stairs.

He waited until they were back in his classroom before he began his lecture.

"I'm appalled at your behavior, young lady. What gives you the right to think you can play with other people's things without permission, Marietta? And not only did you touch them, you **broke** them as well. How would you like it if someone did that to your things? Would you be happy?"

She hung her head. "No. But it was Sevvy's idea," she added with a flash of defiance. "He didn't like the tea we had and wanted a different one, so I opened up all the little boxes till I found one he liked. And he wanted to see the cups too."

"Oh really?" He frowned down at her, a sudden inspiration hitting him. "Well, maybe Sevvy ought to get punished too, since it was his idea in the first place, Miss DiSarno."

"No! You can't punish my dog!"

"I most certainly can, since he's as deserving of it as you," Snape declared, and he took the dog from her before she realized what he was about. "No! No!" the child wailed. "Give me back my Sevvy! It was _my_ idea, not his."

"Oh, so you _lied_ to me on top of your terrible behavior?" he demanded. "Now you've earned yourself another five minutes in time out. And so has Sevvy." He set the dog on his desk, ignoring her howls, then picked her up and placed her on a chair facing the wall in a corner. "Ten minutes, Miss DiSarno, for you to think about what you've done."

"I want Sevvy!" she bawled.

"Not until your ten minutes is up."

She glared at him. "You're mean."

"If you hadn't been bad, Sevvy wouldn't have been taken away. Now face the wall, miss."

He walked back to his desk and set a timer for ten minutes. Then he sat down with his arms folded, and scowled at the stuffed dog. It was going to be a long ten minutes.

For several moments, the only sound in the dungeon was of a little child sobbing. Then, when that didn't bring the desired result, she began to kick the wall with her sneaker. Thump. Thump.

"Keep that up and I'll add another five minutes," he snapped.

She halted immediately, muttered something that sounded like, "I don't like you any more," and began to cry again.

"God, Dad," Arista said in an undertone. "Aren't you being a little hard on her?"

"She has to learn, Arista. Otherwise she'll be a spoiled brat in no time. And _that_ I won't tolerate." Then he sighed and lowered his voice even further. "I don't like this any better than she does."

At last the timer rang and Snape told Marietta she could get up and gave her Sevvy. "Are you going to behave now?"

"Yes," she clutched the dog tightly, sniffling. "I'm sorry I was bad."

"Remember this and next time, keep your hands to yourself, okay?" he said, then knelt and scrubbed her face with a green handkerchief. "Then I won't need to punish you like this."

She nodded, then asked in a small voice, "Do you still love me, Uncle Sev? Even if I'm bad?"

"Of course, imp," he said, then he hugged her to him. "I'll always love you, Marietta, even if you're a dreadful brat."

"Promise?"

"Promise. Why would you ever think otherwise?"

"Cause my cousin Dean told me if I didn't stop getting in trouble no one would love me and Santa Claus wouldn't get me anything for Christmas either."

"Humph," Snape snorted. "Dean doesn't know everything. All children get into trouble, that doesn't mean you stop loving them, minx. Although, if you don't behave, Santa might just take a present away from you," he added, hoping that might serve to keep her in line better than even a time out.

"No! I'll be good," she cried. "I don't want to get nothing for Christmas, like it says in the song."

"What song?"

"The Christmas song Dean taught me. It goes like this," and she began to sing the lyrics to "I'm Getting' Nuttin' for Christmas".

Snape had to bit the inside of his cheek to keep a straight face, for the song described a mischievous child just like the imp standing before him. He darted a glance at Arista and saw she was having similar problems, her shoulders quivering with silent laughter.

When she had finished singing, Marietta added, "Dean says that Christmas carol was written just for me, 'cause I'm a no good troublemaking brat. But I'm not _that_ bad, am I?"

Severus hesitated for a moment before answering, and Arista said, "Don't listen to Dean, Marietta, he's a troublemaker himself, and I'm sure he got put on the Naughty List more than once."

"You think?" her eyes widened.

"Uh-huh. That song was probably written for him, not you. You can pick a different song and next time you see him, you tell Dean this is your Christmas carol, not the old one, okay?"

"But I don't know any other ones except Rudolph."

"I do. I know lots of them. Jenna and I used to sing carols all the time back when I lived in Pennsylvania. I'll teach you some of them and then you can pick the one you like best."

She grinned at the older girl angelically. "Thanks, Arista! You're my favorite cousin."

"Aww, you're sweet, kid." Arista laughed. She held out a hand to the child. "C'mon. let's go find Mel and Trish and we can all practice together."

"Okay!" She stepped free of her uncle's arms and trailed after her cousin. "I just remembered another one Dean taught me. D'you know this one, Arista? It goes, _I was gonna trim my tree but then I got high, I was gonna buy you a DVD, but then I got high . . ._" (lyrics quoted from "BeClaus I Got High"--White Trash Christmas album)

Severus's jaw dropped. Had he heard her correctly? There was a Christmas song about drugs? What the blazes was the world coming to?

"Marietta! Don't _ever_ sing that one!" Arista ordered. "That's _not_ a nice song at all."

"But Dean and Josh said it was funny."

"Yeah, well those two ought to be knocked upside the head for teaching you that," Arista said angrily. "And they say _you're_ a troublemaking brat? Ha! Look who's talking."

He lost the rest of their conversation, as they had traveled too far up the corridor for him to hear them. He heaved a long sigh and returned to grading his exams. With luck he might finish the rest before dinner, provided there were no more unexpected interruptions.

**A/N: Is Sev gonna be allowed to finish his tests? Or will something else happen? Find out next chapter! And be kind . . .leave a review**


	6. Bedtime Battle

**Bedtime Battle**

Later on that night, Marietta offered to sing Severus a Christmas carol. "Is this your favorite one?" he asked, sitting in his recliner.

"Oh no, but it's my favorite so far," she replied, standing before him. "It's called _Holly Jolly Christmas_." She began to sing, and even Severus, who was by no means an expert on music, could tell she was note perfect.

"Wonderful," he said, applauding. "You sing beautifully, Marietta."

"So do Arista and Trish," the child beamed. "Can you sing too?"

"Uh, no," he admitted. "A frog sings better than I do, trust me. But I do enjoy listening to music." He tapped a finger against his chin thoughtfully. "I have an idea. Why don't we make a list of all the Christmas carols you've learned and when it gets closer to Christmas, you can look at it and pick the one you like best."

"That's a great idea, only I can't spell all the names," she sighed.

"Don't worry, I'll write them down for you." He took a piece of parchment and an Everlast quill from a drawer and wrote on the top **Marietta's Christmas Carols**. Underneath that he wrote _Holly Jolly Christmas_ and _Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer_, which she'd sung for him and Dumbledore the night she'd arrived.

"And we'll put it on the wall here, and whenever you learn a new one, I'll add it to the list." He pointed his wand and muttered a sticking charm and the parchment fastened it self to the wall.

"Yay!" Marietta clapped her hands.

"And now, it's bedtime for little girls," he announced.

"Aww. Do I _have_ to?"

"Yes," he gave her a pretend Snape glare. "If you're not in bed by the time I count to three, no bedtime story."

She pouted. "But I'm not tired."

"One. Better hurry."

She took off for the bedroom, seeing he was serious.

He gave her a minute before he said, "Two. You'd better be in bed, miss."

Hiding a smirk, he made his way into the bedroom, where he caught her just scrambling into bed and pulling the blanket over herself and Sevvy. "Three. You just made it, imp."

She peeked over the top of the soft green blanket at him. "That's 'cause I'm fast as lightning, Mom says."

He tweaked her nose. "You can say that again." He seated himself on the edge of the bed. "Ready?"

"Wait!" she cried. "I forgot to say my prayers." She threw off her covers and knelt down on the side of the bed. "Our Father, who art in heaven . . ." she recited softly. Then she added, "God bless Mom and Dad, Uncle Sev and Arista, Nana and Grandpa Leo, Grandma and Papa Jim, and make Papa Jim get well please. God bless all my cousins, even mean Dean, and all the animals, and make me a good girl. Amen. Oh, and don't forget to remind Santa to bring me a kitten for Christmas."

"All right, now into bed with you," he ordered, picking her up and tucking her back under the covers. _A kitten for Christmas, huh? Now there's an idea for a present_, he mused.

"The floor sure is cold, Uncle Sev," Marietta remarked, burrowing under her covers.

"I know. This castle is often drafty in the winter. Here, let me warm your sheets for you." He drew his wand and tapped it against her bed, performing the simple charm silently. "How's that? Warm enough?"

She wriggled in delight. "Perfect. Now my feet are all toasty." She eyed his wand longingly. "I wish I could do magic like you."

"Someday you will, Marietta."

"It's _always_ someday," she groaned. "I want it to be now."

"You're not ready yet, child. Magic is very tricky and difficult to control, and it can be dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. That's why it sleeps until you're around eleven or so, to give you time to grow up and learn to control your emotions and to think before you act. And a good thing too, since you have trouble with that, minx."

"I'm getting better, though. I don't scream all that much anymore."

"True," he acknowledged. "When it's time for you to have magic, you will. And if I know anything about you Amarotti girls, you'll be as strong as your Aunt Amelia, who was one of the most powerful magicians I ever knew."

"Was she as strong as you?"

"Yes."

"And as nice?"

"Oh, much nicer than me. I'm a nasty grouch, don't you know that?" he pretended to scowl fiercely.

She giggled. "No, you're not! That's just pretend, Uncle Sev."

He chuckled. "You are too smart, Marietta DiSarno. Smarter than all of my students put together, because you figured out my secret." Then he put a finger to his lips. "Shhh. Don't tell anyone. If they think I'm nasty, they'll behave better in class."

"I'll never tell. Promise forever." She drew an X over her heart. "Can I have a story now?"

So he told her the story of the Gingerbread Man, appropriate since it was almost Christmas. Then he bid her goodnight and she closed her eyes.

He wasn't tired yet, so he decided to read a bit before he went to bed. He had just settled down on his bed and opened a cookbook, trying to pick out some recipes for Christmas dinner, when Marietta called, "Uncle Sev?"

"What's the matter?" he asked, concealing a sigh. _Blast, I thought she was asleep._

"I need to go potty."

"Go ahead. You know where the bathroom is." All the staff had their own private bathroom attached to their suite of rooms, for which Severus thanked God, because the last thing he wanted was to share a bathroom with fifty teenage boys.

Marietta scurried across the room to the bathroom. Two minutes later she was back in bed.

Snape returned to perusing recipes for brown sugar glazed ham and candied sweet potatoes. _This looks pretty good. Maybe I'll try—_

"Uncle Sev?"

"What _now_?" he growled, annoyed.

"I'm thirsty."

He pointed his wand at her nightstand. "Here's a cup of water. But after this you're to go to sleep, am I clear?"

"Yes." She drank the cup of water he'd conjured. Then she snuggled down into her comforter.

_Peace at last,_ he thought, and picked up his book. _Now, about that recipe . . ._He had just about memorized it when he heard his niece's little voice yet again.

"Uncle Sev?"

Thoroughly exasperated, he snapped, "That's enough, Marietta! Just go to bed!"

Silence. Then a sniffle. "But I just want to know if Papa Jim's going to die."

He sighed, then set down his book and looked at her. "No, Marietta. He's not dying. I got a letter from your dad today and he says your grandfather is going to be fine. So quit worrying your little head about him, nobody's dying."

"Are you sure?"

"Very sure. Now, for the love of heaven, child, close your eyes and go to sleep!"

"Okay. Good night, Uncle Sev."

"Good night, Marietta," he said through gritted teeth. _Please, let her not test me anymore tonight, because I just might snap,_ he prayed fervently.

He cautiously picked up the cookbook. Five minutes went by. Then ten. He turned to glance at the little bed.

His niece was sleeping soundly, one arm holding Sevvy, the other tucked under her pillow.

Snape heaved a sigh of relief. _Miracles __**do**__ happen after all. Even to grouchy exasperated Potions Masters. Now, where was I?_

**Next: Draco appears and causes more trouble for Marietta and Sev.**


	7. Draco the Donkey

**Draco the Donkey**

**I happen to think this is one of the best chapters in this whole story, let me know if you agree!**

Since he still had all those exams to grade, Snape decided the safest place for Marietta to be the next morning was outside, running around with Scout and burning off the excess energy all little children possessed in spades. "Go and play fetch with Scout," he told her, after instructing the magehound to watch Marietta, keeping the inquisitive child away from the lake, the forest, and the Whomping Willow.

Scout understood perfectly, he possessed an almost human intelligence, and Severus knew the dog wouldn't allow her to wander anywhere she wasn't supposed to. There was precious trouble she could get into otherwise, and the Potions Master left her playing happily with the magehound and hurried down to his office to finish grading his exams.

Hagrid had promised to keep an eye on her until Arista woke up and he sent her outside as well.

Marietta placed Sevvy on a stone bench nearby while she threw a red leather ball for Scout, bidding her dog to, "Stay right there, mister, and don't go nowhere!"

Sevvy looked up at her with his glass eyes innocently, and she nodded in satisfaction. "Okay, Scout, let's see you catch this one!" She threw the ball as hard as she could.

The golden magehound leaped up and caught it in midair.

"Good one, boy!" she cheered, then took the ball when he trotted over to her with it.

Hagrid was decorating a small spruce tree near his cottage with strings of popcorn and cranberries, and every so often he would glance over at the child and the dog, who were running all over the lawn. He even sent Fang over to join in the fun, though the boarhound was getting old and couldn't play as much as he used to.

Fang brought his favorite rope bone to Marietta, and she played tug-o-war with the giant mastiff, or at least she tried to. She kept falling over when Fang tugged back, ending up face first on the lawn, giggling.

She was having so much fun playing with the dogs that she forgot to keep an eye on Sevvy, the way she usually did. She left her beloved toy sitting on the bench while she romped with the dogs, never dreaming he would become the target of a disgruntled student's ire.

Draco Malfoy and his two constant companions, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, were coming down the path that led to Hagrid's cottage, bored and irritable. They'd just received their final marks in Potions and Transfiguration and were not happy with them.

"I can't believe he gave me a C!" Draco was grumbling to Crabbe. "A bloody C when I worked my butt off the whole semester. My father's going to have something to say about that all right, especially when that know-it-all Mudblood Granger and Daddy's pet Arista got the highest grades in the class!"

"But they've always done that, Draco," commented Goyle.

"Oh, shut up, Goyle! So what if they're bloody brilliant? I'm in Slytherin, _I_ should get top marks too, considering it's _my _father paying _his _salary."

"Well, at least you passed, Malfoy," Crabbe said. "I failed my Potions final and my Transfiguration too."

Draco rolled his eyes. "No surprise there, Crabbe, since you're thick as a castle wall. You'd probably do better making mud pies, like that bratty niece of Snape's over there." He pointed to where Marietta was running with the two dogs.

"She's so annoying," Draco continued. "Always following Snape around, asking stupid questions, and the worst part is he likes it—he doesn't even tell her to get lost or go play in traffic the way I would. Ever since he came back from America he's been Mr. Justice For All, he even took twenty points from Slytherin two days ago when he caught Marsh and Hathaway making out near a statue at two in the morning! Twenty points, for Godsake! I think those stupid American relatives of his corrupted him or something."

"Or maybe he's just sick and tired of Marsh and Hathaway thinking they can get away with everything," Goyle remarked unwisely.

"Oh, come off it! Sure, they're arrogant twits, but they're still Slytherins and he's their Head of House. He should have given them a break not jumped down their throats. He even threatened Marsh with detention! And then he goes and gives me a C, and when I questioned it al he said was the grade you get is the one you've earned, Mr. Malfoy, next time study harder." The blond-haired boy kicked a rock angrily. "Study harder indeed! Ha! I wouldn't have to study at all if he weren't so bloody unfair, the snarky old git! I'm beginning to think he's forgotten my name's Malfoy, not Potter."

"Nobody could ever forget that," chimed in Crabbe.

Draco rolled his eyes. "My father's going to be furious. I'll be lucky if he doesn't ground me for the whole break. I'm going to tell him it was a mistake and he ought to speak to Snape, then maybe the professor will think twice about giving me a C and change it."

"I don't know, Malfoy. He's never changed any of my grades, and they're worse than yours," Goyle said.

"That's because you don't matter, Goyle. _Your_ father's not on the Board of Governors." Draco said heatedly. "If Snape's smart, he'll know which side his bread's buttered on and give me a B at least, or else . . ."

He gleefully imagined scenes in which Snape was taken to task by Lucius, humiliated and threatened with losing his job if he didn't recant his decision and give Draco a B in Potions. Then he spotted Sevvy sitting upon the bench.

"Well, what do we have here? It's the brat's stuffed dog," Draco sneered, a nasty glint in his eye. "What does she call that thing? Sevvy?" Crabbe and Goyle nodded. "I guess she named it after the professor or something. And he's not even humiliated by that, he lets her bring it all over the place like it was a real dog."

"It's got charms on it, Malfoy, that make it's heart beat and stuff," Crabbe reported. "I heard Seton and Greenbough talking about it yesterday. They think it's sooo cute!"

All three boys made a gagging noise of utter disgust.

Draco moved over and picked up the dog. "Stupid toy. Why don't we do the professor a favor and get rid of it? Then maybe he'll send the brat back home to America, because she'll be too annoying to be around."

Crabbe and Goyle just stared at him, uncomprehending. "But . . .but Draco, that's her favorite toy," stammered Goyle. "What are you gonna do with it?"

Draco thought for a moment. "Well . . .I've been meaning to try out this new spell. It's one my cousin from America sent me, voodoo magic, like they use down in Louisiana where he's from."

"I didn't know you had a cousin over there," exclaimed Crabbe.

"Well, I do, blockhead. His name's Phillippe Malfont, they changed the Malfoy name a bit when they emigrated there, see? Made it sound more French, so they could mingle with the French Creoles down there. Anyway, Phillippe knows a lot about voodoo, seems like they practice that branch exclusively over there. He knows tons of gris gris spells and stuff, wicked hexes they'd never teach us here at boring old Hogwarts. I asked him to send me some tips on the sly and last week he sent me a spell that you can use to hex someone or something. It's called a Spell of Ill Wishing and it uses sympathetic magic."

"Huh? What's that?" Goyle asked, his brow crinkling.

"A voodoo doll, dummy!" Draco sneered. "God, are you stupid! Whatever you do to the doll, the person feels like you were doing to them. But you need a lock of the person's hair or fingernail clipping to put on or inside the doll to make it work. You could make a person really sick or hurt and the best part is nobody can figure out why, since there's nothing really wrong in the first place." Draco chuckled. "I'd make a Spell of Ill Wishing on Potter, but I don't have his hair or anything." He looked at the dog in distaste. "But maybe I can practice on the little snot's precious Sevvy here, let's see if the gris gris actually works like Phillippe said."

"Draco, I don't think that's a good idea," cautioned Crabbe.

"Yeah, what if Snape found out you'd hexed his niece's toy?" Goyle added.

Crabbe shuddered. "He'd be mad as bloody blue blazes."

"Yeah? And who's gonna tell him? You, Goyle? Or you, Crabbe? Didn't think so. 'Cause if you breathe a word of this to anyone, I'll make a Spell of Ill Wishing on _you_ that'll make you want to die to end your suffering," he threatened.

Both of the others paled and swore they would never tell.

"Good. Now watch and learn, idiots," the other boy ordered, pulling his wand. He set the dog back on the bench, smirking evilly. "Time to say goodbye, Sevvy, you pathetic excuse for a dog. Today's the last day of the rest of your life." Then he twirled his wand and recited the following spell.

"Pins and needles, blood and bone, make Sevvy's heart stop cold! Without breath, cold as death, rags and dust, forgotten and alone!"

He stabbed the wand down at the dog. There was a sudden flare of bluish light and fifty long metal pins shot out of Draco's wand and impaled themselves into the dog's stuffed body. The longest was thrust right through his chest, where a heart would be on a real dog.

Draco crowed with laughter. "Ha! Look at it! It's perfect!"

Crabbe and Goyle gulped. It was a gruesome sight, even though Sevvy was not a real dog, there was something chilling and scary about seeing the toy stuck all over with dozens of pins. Sevvy's glass eyes stared at them accusingly, or so it seemed.

Crabbe began to tremble. "Uh, Malfoy, I don't like this. I'm going back to the castle. The way the dog's looking at me . . ."

"Yeah, like it _knows _what you've done," muttered Goyle. "Gives me the creeps, mate. And if Snape ever finds out . . ."

"What are you, a bunch of babies? Aww, poor Crabbe and Goyle, afraid of a little gris gris?" Draco picked up the dog, whose heartbeat was still, and thrust it at the two boys. "Gotcha!" he yelled.

They screamed and backed away.

Draco began to laugh. "Run away, little babies! Run home to Mummy and tell her how you were scared to death of a little bayou magic!"

Just then Marietta happened to look back over her shoulder, puzzled at where all the laughter and shouting was coming from. When she caught sight of Draco holding Sevvy, she screamed, "Hey! You put Sevvy down, nasty boy!"

Draco turned to face her. "Why don't you come over and make me, brat?"

Marietta began to run towards him, her fists clenched, blue eyes furious. "I SAID, LEAVE SEVVY ALONE!"

Draco winced, for the sheer volume of her screams was amazing. He dropped the dog on the ground and backed away, an evil grin on his handsome face. "Here's your dumb old Sevvy, brat. Now you can have a pretend funeral and bury him, 'cause he just up and died."

"Don't you hurt my Sevvy!" Marietta shrieked. "I'll tell Uncle Sev on you."

"Tell him what? That your stupid fake dog died?" Draco kicked the dog with his foot, sending it sliding along the ground to Marietta, who took one look at it and began to howl.

"Sevvy! You've killed my Sevvy!" she carefully picked the poor abused toy up despite the pins in him and hugged him, sobbing hysterically. Huge tears rolled down her cheeks. "I HATE YOU!" she wailed. "Sevvy's DEAD and it's all YOUR fault!"

"Why don't you cry about it, you big baby?"

Marietta glared at him through her tears. Then she started to run towards the castle, screaming bloody murder. "UNCLE SEV! UNCLE SEV! SEVVY"S DEAD! HE KILLED SEVVY!"

Too late, Draco realized he might have cooked his own goose, and sprinted after her, hoping to catch her before she found Snape.

Scout began barking, then he ran after Draco and Marietta. The magehound raced inbetween them, barking loudly, preventing Draco from catching up to the little girl.

"Get out of the way, you stupid hound!" Draco yelled.

Scout halted suddenly, and Draco crashed into the dog, rolling on the ground. "Ahhh! Watch where you're going, you dumb mutt!"

Scout growled softly, then deliberately stepped on the boy's chest before bounding off him and away.

Draco wheezed and sat up, clutching his stomach and gasping. Then he scrambled to his feet and raced into the school.

He had just crossed the threshold of the entrance hall, following the sound of Marietta's wails. He prayed that Snape was still in his dungeon, for otherwise he was in serious trouble. With another teacher he could lie his way out of this predicament, but he'd never be able to lie convincingly to Severus, it was as though the man could read his mind. One glance from those knowing dark eyes and he'd be squirming like a worm on a hook.

He saw no sign of Crabbe or Goyle, they'd fled at the first sign of danger, the cowards. Draco ran down the left hand corridor. Marietta's screams had not decreased in volume any that he could tell and he wondered how such a small girl could scream so blasted LOUD. It was worse than a banshee.

He had almost caught up with her, she couldn't run all that fast when she was bawling, when a door slammed and Minerva McGonagall stepped into the corridor, drawn by Marietta's howls.

"Good heavens, child! Why are you screaming like that? Are you hurt?" she knelt down and Marietta rushed into her arms.

"I-I need Uncle Sev! He killed my Sevvy!" Marietta gasped, huge tears falling on McGonagall's green robes.

"Sevvy? I don't understand. Who's Sevvy?"

"M-my dog. He w-was my b-bestest friend and that mean boy killed him. See? He's full of pins just like a voodoo doll." She displayed the poor dog to McGonagall. "He –he used to have a heartbeat and he loved you when you hugged him, but now he's DEAD!" she began to cry again.

"There now, Marietta. Your dog's not dead, we can fix him," McGonagall soothed, patting the child on the back. "But can you tell me who it was that hexed your dog?"

"Uh-huh." she sniffled. "He was right outside and he _laughed_ at me when I told him to leave Sevvy alone. Then he said I could have a funeral for him."

Mc Gonagall's mouth tightened into a grim line. "Oh really? He'll be celebrating a funeral all right, when I find him—his own! Can you tell me what he looked like?"

At that point, Draco started to edge backwards down the corridor, hoping to escape McGonagall's eagle-eyed notice.

But she spotted him and beckoned him over. "Mr. Malfoy, would you happen to know anything about an incident involving a stuffed dog that belongs to Professor Snape's niece?"

Marietta whirled around. "That's HIM! That's the one who killed my Sevvy!"

Draco plastered a look of utter bewilderment on his face. "Huh? What's she talking about, Professor? I've never even seen her until today."

McGonagall's eyes narrowed. "Are you sure, Malfoy?"

"Yes, ma'am. What's all the fuss about a stuffed dog anyway?" he asked in his best totally innocent voice.

McGonagall showed him Sevvy. "Do you recognize this dog, Mr. Malfoy?"

He shook his head. "No. I've never seen it before."

McGonagall looked skeptical, but before she could say anything, Marietta shrieked, "That's a LIE! You did _so_ kill Sevvy!"

She sprang at him then, and her foot struck the middle of his shin hard.

"Ow!" Draco yelped. "Get away from me, you little snot!"

"You're a LIAR! Nothing but a rotten LIAR!" She kicked him again for good measure. "You're a sneaky lying jackass!" she yelled, and suddenly her hand was on his wand, which he'd tucked into a pocket of his robes.

She jerked it free and pointed it at him, yelling, "I'll teach you to hurt my dog, Mr. JACKASS!"

Suddenly, there was a brilliant cascade of blue and purple sparks and the wand shot out a beam of purple light that struck the astonished Draco full in the chest.

"Marietta, no!" Professor McGonagall cried, grabbing the wand from the child.

But it was too late.

Young as she was, Marietta was heir to the powers of an Amarotti magician, and in her anger she'd managed to use Draco's wand to cast a spell. Unfocused, however, the spell only worked partially, transforming Draco into half of a jackass. The Slytherin boy now had the head of a donkey with extra long ears and a curiously human expression. In addition to that, his hands were partial hooves and below the knee were donkey hind legs. A mane grew down his back and a tufted black tail poked out of the back of his robes.

"Nyee-haw-hee-haw!" brayed Malfoy in alarm, his eyes rolling in panic. "What's she done—hee-haw—to me?" He gestured with his hand-hooves. "Ahh! Professor, I'm a-a-hee-haw—jackass!" He swiveled his head around to examine his backside. "Oh, nooo! I've got a—hee-haw—tail!"

Marietta was grinning. "Wow! Did _I_ do that?"

"It would seem so, child," McGonagall said, a pleased note in her voice. "I'd say that when you're older, you'll probably have a substantial talent in Transfiguration. Just as I do."

Draco was staring down at himself in horror. "Professor, what do I hee-haw—do? Change me back, please!"

McGonagall put her hands on her hips and fixed him with a stern look. "While I don't normally approve of using Transfiguration as a punishment, in this case, Mr. Malfoy, I'd say you got exactly what you deserve."

"Whaat!" he squealed.

"You did hex her dog, didn't you, Malfoy? Don't bother to deny it, I can tell when a student's lying to me."

Draco hung his head. "Yes, I did it. Eee-haw! I'm sorry, now please change me back!" he brayed miserably.

McGonagall pursed her lips. "I'll change you back, Malfoy—"

He heaved an immense sigh.

"—tomorrow night. I think it'll be a good lesson for you to remain a jackass for a day and a night, maybe then you'll learn not to bully little children. Or lie to your teachers and expect to get away with it, young man. I wasn't born yesterday, you know."

"_Tomorrow!_ No, you can't—hee-haw, yee-aww!" Malfoy screeched. "I can't stay like this. I'm a-a freak! Hee-haw! Everyone will laugh at me! It's not FAIR! Hee-haw!"

"Well, Mr. Malfoy, you should have thought about that _before_ you hexed Marietta's dog, now shouldn't you?" she demanded crisply. "I'll be speaking to the Headmaster about your use of forbidden magic and it'll be up to him whether or not he informs your father."

"My father? Hee-haw! No, don't tell him, please!" Draco begged.

"That won't be my decision, but the Headmaster's. And of course, I shall inform Professor Snape as well, since he's your Head of House and must authorize this punishment. Although once he finds out what you've done, I doubt he'll question my decision."

Draco brayed in despair. "No! It was a joke! Hee-haw!"

"And now the joke's on _you_, Mr. Malfoy," McGonagall snorted. "Come along, we're going to pay a visit to Professor Dumbledore." She reached out and grabbed one of Draco's long donkey ears expertly.

"Yeoww!" Draco wailed. "Not so tight!"

"March, Mr. Malfoy!"

Malfoy obeyed, for his ears were quite sensitive and Minerva's grip was not sparing.

Marietta followed, half-running to keep up with them. "What about Sevvy, Professor?"

"Don't worry, Marietta. The Headmaster will fix your poor toy, wait and see," McGonagall promised. "Sherbet lemon!" she spoke the password that unlocked the staircase to Dumbledore's office and they all climbed the stairs to the headmaster's sanctum.

Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, reading a copy of The Daily Prophet and munching on a Chocolate Frog. "Minerva, how nice to see you! And Marietta too! What brings you to my office at this time of day?"

"Malfoy hexed my Sevvy and killed him," Marietta announced. "But the nice lady professor said you can fix him."

Dumbledore looked grave. "I see." Then he peered at Draco. "What happened to you, Draco? An accident?"

"No! She—" he pointed an accusing hoof at Marietta. "—grabbed my wand—hee-haw, yee-haw—and turned me into this—this half-jackass thing!" He bared his teeth at her.

"Because you killed my Sevvy!" Marietta shouted, scowling right back at him. "You're mean and nasty and you ought to be spanked!"

Dumbledore coughed, plainly trying not to laugh at the little girl's statement. "Marietta, will you excuse us for a moment? I need to speak with Draco and Professor McGonagall alone."

"Can you fix Sevvy first?" she sniffled.

"Certainly, child. Where is he?"

"Here, Headmaster," Minerva handed Dumbledore the toy.

The old wizard shook his head at the dog's pitiful appearance, then waved his wand over Sevvy and the dog was covered in purple light. When the light faded, the dog was his old self, heartbeat and all.

"Here you go, Marietta! Good as new." he handed her the dog.

Marietta hugged the restored Sevvy to her so hard the rock in his chest nearly burst out through the seams. "He's ALIVE! Sevvy's alive! Thank you, thank you, Mr. Dumbledore!"

Dumbledore smiled at her, his eyes twinkling merrily. "You're welcome, child. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to have a little talk with Draco and Minerva. And I think Severus as well. You can stay here with Fawkes, my phoenix and we'll be right back."

Marietta nodded, then went over to pet the phoenix. "Hello, pretty bird. You're all gold and red and shiny. So beautiful!"

Fawkes chirruped and rubbed his head against her hand. "Oh! I think he likes me!"

"Fawkes loves children," Dumbledore said. "Stay here and play with him, Marietta. Oh, and help yourself to some candy if you want. There are Chocolate Frogs and Ice Mice in my dish today."

Then he herded Draco and Minerva into the outer part of his office, where the fireplace was. "Severus, I need you to come up to my office, please," Dumbledore tossed a pinch of Floo into the fire and summoned the Potions Master.

Forty-five minutes later, everything had been resolved, including Draco's punishment. Dumbledore had listened gravely to McGonagall's retelling of the incident, including Draco's use of forbidden magic, trying to lie his way out of trouble, and Marietta's hexing him with his own wand.

Upon learning of the voodoo spell Draco had used, the Headmaster frowned and said sternly, "Such spells are not approved by the Ministry, Mr. Malfoy. Your use of one of them is a grave breach of school rules. I'm afraid your father will have to be informed of it, and you yourself will be made to forget you ever knew such a thing."

Draco paled and said nothing, though he was clearly unhappy at the old wizard's words.

"As for the rest of your punishment, I think I shall leave that up to your Head of House." He turned to Professor Snape. "Severus?"

Snape did not reply for a minute, he was too busy giving Malfoy one of his terrible scowls. The boy flinched and dropped his gaze, unable to meet the Potion Master's eyes. Once Snape had heard of the boy's cruel prank, he'd been hard pressed not to throttle Draco. He could just imagine his niece's hysterics when she discovered her precious dog mutilated like that. There was no excuse for Malfoy's tormenting Marietta, and Severus was not going to let him get off easily this time.

He folded his hands in his sleeves to keep from shaking the rather defiant Malfoy.

"Mr. Malfoy," he began in his most unforgiving deadly tone, "There is nothing you can say to me, no attempt at remorse, that will mitigate what you have done to my innocent niece. What you did was cruel, pointless, and awful in the extreme. I agree with Professor McGonagall, you should remain as you are for a day and a night. By then I hope you will have learned your lesson."

Draco opened his mouth and a whimpering whine emerged. "Professor, no! You can't leave me like this! Hee-haw!"

"I most certainly can, Malfoy." Snape declared icily.

"My father will—hee-haw—hear about this!" Draco bawled. "He won't let you treat me like this—hee-haw, over some brat's toy! It's not fair!"

"No?" Severus leaned closer to the boy, his eyes glittering savagely. "If _I_ were your father, Malfoy, I'd be ashamed to call you my son. You're lucky, boy, that I'm not, else you'd have more than a miscast Transfiguration spell to worry about. You'd be over my knee quicker than you could cry unfair, you spoiled sneaking brat!"

Malfoy shrank away from him, eyes bulging in terror, half-afraid that Snape would forget himself and carry out his threat. He'd never seen the Potions Master so furious before.

"Severus," Dumbledore reproved softly.

Snape drew away, breathing hard, fighting to control his temper.

"My ruling stands, Malfoy," he repeated harshly. "You'll get the punishment you've earned and you can whine about it to your father later. Now get out of my sight before I forget you're my student and do something you'll regret."

Draco didn't need to be told twice, the look on Snape's face could have frozen a cobra. He was on his feet in a flash. "Wait!" Dumbledore called. "Come here, Draco." He drew his wand.

Trembling, Draco came to stand before the older wizard.

"You have no need of this dark knowledge. Such as this can only hurt you," Dumbledore said quietly, then laid the tip of his wand against Draco's forehead. "Obliviate!"

There was a wash of silver light and then all memory of the forbidden Spell of Ill Wishing was erased from Malfoy's mind. All that he recalled was casting a hex on Marietta's dog and getting in trouble for it with Snape and McGonagall.

"You may go, Draco," Dumbledore ordered, tucking his wand away.

Draco went, cringing slightly, ducking his donkey head under the archway and clomping down the stairs.

Severus rose to his feet. "Where's Marietta, Albus?"

"In my inner office. I figured it was best if she remained there while we dealt with Draco. Fawkes was playing with her when I left."

_I just hope you didn't leave anything important lying around, _Snape thought in alarm, going through the connecting door to the inner office.


	8. Too Many Chocolate Frogs

**Too Many Chocolate Frogs**

To his relief he found Marietta curled up in the Headmaster's chair, Sevvy in her lap, asleep, her mouth smeared with chocolate.

Severus glanced at the dish of candy Dumbledore kept on a table beside his desk. It was usually filled to the brim with some kind of sweet, the Headmaster was known for his love of candy. To his astonishment, the dish was empty.

"Oh no!" he groaned, putting a hand to his forehead.

"What's wrong, Severus?" Dumbledore queried, entering the office a moment later. "Is she still upset over her dog?"

"No, but I think she helped herself to your entire dish of candy, Albus."

Dumbledore frowned in consternation. "Oh, dear. I had about ten Chocolate Frogs and fifteen Ice Mice in there. I told her she could have some, I never thought she'd eat them all."

"Marietta loves candy," Severus sighed, gazing down at the child with affectionate dismay. "I suppose I shouldn't expect a four-year-old to exercise restraint when it comes to Chocolate Frogs and Ice Mice."

"It's my fault, Severus. I ought to know better than to leave an entire dish of candy out with a child her age alone. It's too tempting to resist." The elderly wizard shook his head regretfully. "I fear she's going to have an upset stomach from eating all that, Severus."

"No doubt." Snape agreed. He bent and lifted Marietta into his arms.

She opened her eyes at his touch. "Uncle Sev!"

"Hello, imp. I heard you had quite an adventure this morning with Malfoy and a wand."

"He tried to kill Sevvy, only I got mad and turned him into a jackass. Sort of. Are you mad at me?"

"At you? No, of course not. I'm mad at Malfoy for hexing your dog."

"He's mean and nasty. He made Sevvy die, only Professor Santa Claus brought him back with magic."

Severus's lip quivered. "His name's Professor _Dumbledore_, Marietta, not Santa Claus."

"That's all right, Severus. She can call me that if she wants. Or Uncle Al like my own nieces and nephews do," Dumbledore grinned. "And I see you like Chocolate Frogs as much as I do, little one."

"Uh-huh." Marietta agreed. Then she whined, "Uncle Sev, I don't feel so good."

"I'm not surprised, after you just ate twenty-five pieces of candy, at least."

"My tummy hurts."

"Come on, minx. Let's go back to my rooms and I'll give you something for your stomachache," her uncle told her, carrying her back down the stairs to his quarters.

He set the little girl on her bed and went to his potions cabinet, where he kept several kinds of drafts for his own personal use or an emergency. He quickly located the pink Anti-Nausea Potion and stirred a dollop of it into a glass of milk he'd summoned with a snap of his fingers.

He returned to Marietta, who was half-curled on her side, moaning pathetically. "My tummy really hurts, Uncle Sev."

"Come here, sweetling," he picked her up and held her on his lap. "I want you to drink this for me like a good girl. It'll make you feel better."

She eyed the pale pink glass of milk in trepidation. "What's it taste like?"

"Peppermint ice cream. Take a sip," he coaxed. "It'll make your stomach stop hurting, I promise."

She obeyed, taking a mouthful. "It's good."

"Told you so. Keep drinking it, that's my girl." He held the cup while she took small sips of the potion. "Next time don't be so greedy and eat every piece of candy in front of you."

"But I love Chocolate Frogs and Ice Mice so much, I just had to eat them."

"Too much of them isn't good for you, Marietta. That's why you have a stomachache now, from stuffing yourself like a Christmas goose. Next time eat one or two at a time, okay?"

"Okay" she said, finishing the whole cup of potion. Then she burped loudly. "'Scuse me."

"How do you feel now?"

"Better. My tummy doesn't hurt awfully now."

"Good. Why don't you lie here with Sevvy until your stomach feels better?" he placed her back on his bed. "I think a light supper of soup and bread will be good for you tonight. I'll call for Dobby to bring us both a tray here tonight, no sense in dragging you to the hall when you're not feeling good." He ruffled her hair affectionately.

"Can Arista eat with us too?"

"Certainly, if she wants," Severus agreed. "You haven't had such a good day today, little one, have you?"

"No." Then she added. "But I feel lots better now that you're here."

He smiled tenderly down at her. "Rest a bit, I'll be in the other room, calling Arista and Dobby."

Comfrey walked through the wall and wound herself about his ankles, purring. He knelt and picked up the lavender-tinged gray cat. "Keep Marietta company, Comfrey. She's had a hard day."

The cat obliged, curling up practically on Marietta's chest, purring soothingly. Comfrey was part lavender fairy cat, and had the ability to soothe and comfort with her purr as well as being able to walk through walls and become invisible when she chose. She was the most affectionate cat Snape had ever known, everyone loved her and she loved almost everyone in turn.

Marietta began to stroke her silky fur, humming a Christmas carol softly. Severus left them to call Arista on her spellophone and summon Dobby to bring them a light supper on a tray. He ordered enough for Arista as well, if she chose to come.

Twenty minutes later, Arista arrived, along with Scout and Dobby. The house elf had remembered to bring up some food and water for the dog and the cat, who ate next to Marietta's chair.

"Have you seen Draco, Dad?" Arista asked, eating a chicken leg. "Somebody hexed him good, he's half a jackass." She giggled uncontrollably. "Not that he wasn't always one to begin with, but now it shows."

"That was me. I did it," Marietta declared proudly.

"Right. That's a good one, Marietta."

"She's telling the truth," Severus interjected. "She hexed him with his own wand."

"No way!" Arista gaped. "She's only _four_, Dad!"

"She's also an Amarotti, and like your mother told me a long time ago, all the Amarotti women have strong magical abilities."

"Yeah, I know, but . . .she's not even five and she can partially transform a _person_? That's pretty amazing even for an Amarotti."

Marietta smirked. "That's me, amazing Marietta."

Both Snape and Arista burst out laughing.

"I'll bet you're gonna be some magician when you're older, kid. A Transfiguration Mistress and a Animagus for sure," Arista predicted.

"Will I get to turn into a horse like Aunt Terri?"

"Who knows? Your Animagus form's unique, you become the animal that suits your spirit the closest," Severus explained. "But you won't know what animal it is until you transform the first time."

"I think I'd like to be a dog, like Sevvy." Marietta stated.

"We'll see one day. Now eat your supper. Then Arista can give you a bath and after that it's bedtime."

"Can Arista sing me a Christmas carol too?"

"Sure I will. How about Silent Night? That's a good one to sing on a night like this, when everything's quiet and still."

Severus nodded. "That's one of my favorites."

"Sevvy and I will learn it and sing it for you," Marietta said happily. Then she looked at Arista. "Did you know that Sevvy died and came back to life today?"

"He _what_? How'd that happen?"

"I'll tell you after supper, okay?" her cousin said, and began to eat her soup quickly. "It was all stupid Draco Malfoy's fault. . . ."

By the next afternoon, it was all over the school, how Draco had been transformed into half a donkey with his own wand by a four-year-old girl. Malfoy was so humiliated he barely poked his donkey head outside the Slytherin common room, for he was the laughingstock of the entire school.

Which was probably a worse punishment than the one Severus had originally given him.

"Your cousin is one awesome kid, " said Kit to Arista, Trish, and Mel at lunchtime. "I'd have paid good money to see her hex Malfoy. Bet he got the shock of his privileged life."

"Serves him right, picking on little kids that way, the conceited ass," Trish said angrily.

"You can say _that_ again," Mel whooped, nearly choking on her pumpkin juice.

"He's never gonna live that down," Kit predicted. "He's marked for the rest of his days here as Draco the Donkey."

"You mean Draco the Dumbass, don't you?" Mel corrected wickedly.

"Nasty, Seton," Arista smirked. "But ever so true."

"Maybe we should make Marietta an honorary SR," suggested Kit, referring to the group they had formed last year to combat bullies. "She certainly fights like one of us."

"Uh, I'd wait a few years, Kit," cautioned Arista. "She already gets into enough trouble on her own, never mind teaching her combat magic."

"Maybe we ought to get her a toy wand as a Christmas present," Trish said thoughtfully. "You know, the kind that only casts a certain kind of spell over and over, one that's harmless."

"yeah, I had one of those when I was a kid," Kit said reminiscently. "Until my dumb brother Nigel broke it on me. It used to cast Lumos and Prismari."

"Really? Prismari's one of her favorite spells. My dad cast it for her on the 4th of July picnic and she's never forgotten it. She makes him cast it for her sometimes, she loves all the colors and the fact you can draw pictures in the air." Arista told them excitedly. "D'you think they still make them?"

"I'd say so," Mel surmised. "No reason why they wouldn't. We should hit Trimelda's Toys in Diagon Alley. She's got a shop right next to Witch Emporium. We could go look at clothes and toys in one shot."

"Sounds like a good plan to me," Trish agreed, her eyes sparkling with the eagerness of a true shopaholic.

Arista, not quite the die-hard shopper her two best friends were, just shook her head in amusement. "Is there a sale going on?"

"Well, duh!" Mel rolled her eyes. "It's the holidays, Aista, there's always a sale _somewhere_."

"Even in Flourish and Blotts? Or Scribbled Inks?" Arista asked, naming her two favorite places to shop, the bookstore and the stationary store.

"Of course, bookworm," Kit teased. "Even they need to discount their old stock sometime."

Arista's nose twitched eagerly at the mere thought of discounted books. "After I buy Marietta's present, I'm going to check them out. They might have some good deals on some rare texts."

Kit shook his head in dismay. "Snape, you're sick, you know that? You're the only fourteen-year-old I know that thinks shopping for books is fun. Did your father brainwash you when you were a baby or something?"

"Funny, Ambrosius. You're forgetting, I never knew my father when I was a baby, so how could he brainwash me? I'm just bookcrazy. It's in my genes, I guess."

"I feel sorry for you then," snickered Kit, then ducked Arista's mock punch.

"Watch it, Kit. The pen is mightier than the sword, you know," Arista said with a smile.

"Whatever, Snape. Overachievement's a disease, you know." he said.

"And all of us have caught it," Mel stated. "Even you, Ambrosius, for all you hate to admit it."

"Yeah, but I also got bitten by the procrastination bug, so they cancel each other out."

"Brilliant, but erratic," Trish laughed.

Kit threw an apple core at her and she ducked. "You got the brilliant part right, Greenbough."

Trish stuck her tongue at him. Then she turned to Arista and asked, "What on earth do I get your dad for Christmas?"

"Hmmm. That's a tough one," Arista sighed. "I'll have to think about that. I don't know myself. Although, if all else fails, you can always get him a certificate to the bookstore. He's a bookworm too."

"Like father, like daughter." Kit remarked.

"Got _that_ right, Ambrosius," admitted Arista.

**next: Marietta decides to introduce Sev to her own brand of decorating, much to his horror!**


	9. The Writing on the Wall

**The Writing on the Wall**

"Uncle Sev, why don't you have any Christmas decorations in here?" asked Marietta that night as she climbed on his lap for her bedtime story.

They were sitting on his recliner in the living room area of his suite, in front of the blazing fireplace. He had hung up his black teacher's robes and was wearing a comfortable pair of black slacks and a gray shirt. His outfit contrasted with Marietta's pink nightgown with little white poodles on it.

"Uh, well I haven't had the time to put up any Christmas decorations in here. I've been too busy with classes and we're going to my house in London in two days. There are lots of decorations there."

She had just sung him her new Christmas carol. It was Frosty the Snowman and he'd added it to the steadily growing list of songs. "I wish we could build a snowman here," she said wistfully. "But there's no snow."

"Not yet. But the snow's coming. Maybe tomorrow, we'll have enough for your snowman."

"Will you help me build it?"

"_Me?_" Both eyebrows went up. "I haven't built a snowman in . . .I can't remember how long. I think Arista or Trish would be better at it."

"Oh, you'll remember once we start it. It's easy and I'll help you if you forget."

"We'll see," was all he said. _If any of the students ever saw me building a snowman, they'd think I'd lost my mind._ He prayed the snow would hold off until they were away from Hogwarts. "What story would you like to hear tonight? The Little Mermaid?"

"No. How about Hansel and Gretel?"

"With the witch that eats little children? That's not too scary?"

"No, 'cause they shove the witch into the oven at the end, so she can't hurt anyone else. That's the best part. Except for the candy house. I wish I could live in a candy house."

"I'll bet. But you'd give yourself a stomachache everyday with the way you eat candy, Marietta." Severus said, chuckling.

"Well, I'd never starve," she pointed out.

"Got an answer for everything, huh?"

"Yes."

He shook his head. "Ah, Marietta. Sometimes you make me want to pull my hair out, but you make my life interesting." He cleared his throat. "Once upon a time, there lived a poor brother and sister named Hansel and Gretel. They were the children of a woodcutter . . ."

As always, she remained riveted to the very end of the story, only closing her eyes when he had finished. Once he was certain she was asleep, he went to bed as well, only waking when it was time to patrol the halls. Nearly all the students had left by then, so it was a short uneventful round. Severus was just as glad, for he was unusually tired and wanted to go back to bed and sleep for three days.

In fact, when he did get back to bed, he slept deeply and dreamlessly, much longer than he was wont to. He awoke at last, feeling pleasantly rested, and glanced at his clock on the nightstand. 9:45! _Oh, good God!_ He sat up, looking frantically around for Marietta.

She wasn't in her bed.

_Hell and damnation, Snape!_ he swore furiously at himself. _How did you manage to oversleep with a four-year-old to tend?_ "Marietta? Where are you?"

"In here, Uncle Sev," she answered from the other room. "I'm decorating."

_"Decorating?"_ he repeated. _I don't like the sound of that at all._ He shot up from the bed so fast it was a miracle he didn't crack his head on the bed post.

Throwing on a robe hastily, he raced out of the bedroom. And stopped dead in his tracks, his mouth falling open in utter disbelief.

Two walls of his sitting room were covered in red and green paint, with what looked like drawings of snowmen, reindeer, holly, and what he assumed was Santa Claus.

"Marietta Elise DiSarno! What _have_ you done?" he thundered.

The little girl was still holding a paint brush in her hand, dripping with red paint. "Decorating. Why? Don't you like it? Now it looks like Christmas in here."

He was speechless. His mouth worked, but no sound came out. _Count to ten, Snape,_ his mind whispered, over and over. _Close your eyes and count to ten._ He did, then did it again for good measure. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes.

The sight of all that red and green paint made him cringe.

But at least he'd controlled the urge to strangle her. Now he only wanted to shake her senseless. _Why, oh why, couldn't she just once sit quietly and behave like a normal child? She's possessed by Kali, Goddess of Destruction, I swear it._

"Marietta, put down the paint brush," he ordered in a very soft, very controlled voice.

"But why? I'm not done yet."

"Oh yes you are. Now put it _down_, young lady."

"Okay." She dropped the brush, and red paint splattered all over his carpet.

He closed his eyes, fighting to control his temper. _God grant me patience . . .and help me not to commit murder today._

"Marietta, why did you paint on my wall?" he asked in what he thought was a reasonable tone of voice.

"Because you needed some decorations."

"Where did you find the paint?"

"It was just sitting over there, under a blanket," she pointed to a far corner of the sitting room, where he stored items he or Filch confiscated from students. Now he recalled the paint cans he'd confiscated from some third years caught painting graffiti on the walls of the bathroom last week. He'd forgotten all about it until now.

He pointed his wand and a container of Magical Mess Remover appeared in front of him as well as a large bucket of water and a scrub brush. Then he shot his niece a mildly scary Snape glare. "You know better than to paint on walls, young lady."

"But Uncle Sev, it's a decoration," she protested.

"Marietta, the last thing I need is decorations on my wall," he began exasperatedly. "That's what parchment is for. Now, I want you to wash all those drawings off this instant, Marietta DiSarno."

"But they're Christmas drawings."

"It doesn't matter what they are, you don't draw on people's walls," he snapped. He pointed to the bucket of water, into which he'd poured the Magical Mess Remover. "Now take this bucket and this brush and start washing the paint off before it sets."

He knew the Magical Mess Remover would take paint off easily, so she wouldn't really have to scrub the wall, but he hoped the task would drive home to her the fact that writing on walls was not permissible. He folded his arms and glowered at her.

"No, I won't."

"Excuse me?" he demanded sharply. "Don't you _dare_ tell me no, young lady!"

"But it'll take forever to get all my drawings off."

"Too bad. That's what you get when you draw on walls, Marietta."

She scowled mutinously. "You're mean."

"I'm going to count to ten, and if you haven't started to clean the paint off my wall, Miss DiSarno, you're going to get a fifteen minute time out and maybe a swat as well."

She stamped her foot. "No!"

"One."

She glared at him.

"Two."

"You're mean, mean, mean!"

"Three."

"I don't like you anymore."

"Four. I don't particularly like you either, right now." _Careful, Snape. Don't sink to her level, _his inner voice cautioned. "Better pick up that brush, you're running out of time, young lady. Five."

She sniffled, huge tears gathering in her eyes. "But I can't! It's too hard!"

"It wasn't hard for you to paint all over the wall before, now was it?" he demanded sternly. "Six."

She began to cry.

"That won't work with me this time. Seven." He scowled at her warningly. _Stubborn little minx! She's really pushing me this time._

"Sevvy doesn't like you either."

He shrugged. "Eight."

She walked over to the bucket and picked up the brush. Then she paused and looked over her shoulder, her big eyes pleading.

But he remained firm, pointing to the painted wall. "Go on. Nine."

Marietta walked over to the wall, sensing that he meant business, and ran the brush over it. The Magical Mess remover on the brush took off the paint in a twinkling, without needing to scrub. Marietta blinked, startled by how easily the paint had come off. Then she scrubbed the next picture and then the next, erasing all traces of her impromptu decorating spree.

Severus stood right behind her, watching. When she had done one wall, he allowed her to rest for ten minutes, then sent her back to work. She pouted and whined, but then she did as she was told when she realized he wasn't about to give in. She had learned from the tea party incident that he meant what he said, and did what he promised.

At last all the paint was removed, and he scrubbed the paint off the carpet himself, not trusting her not to spill water all over. Once he was satisfied with the state of the living room, he banished the bucket and the scrub brush back to the school supply closet. Then he turned to Marietta and said, "You owe me an apology for drawing on my walls, Miss DiSarno."

"Well, _you_ should say sorry to _me_ for ruining my decorations," she stated stubbornly.

"Not until you apologize to me, Marietta, since what you did was very bad."

She pressed her lips together. "I won't. You first."

He gritted his teeth. "Until you apologize for your destructive behavior, you can stay here in this room. All day."

"But what about breakfast?"

"You'll eat it in here."

"But there's nothing to do in here."

"Then I suggest you say you're sorry."

"No! You didn't like my drawings, Uncle Sev! I made them special for you, and you made me erase them!" she cried in aggrieved tones. "I won't say sorry! I WON"T!"

"Fine. You'll stay here until you do, young lady. We'll see who outstubborns who," he muttered that last under his breath.

She burst into tears, then ran past him into the bedroom, slamming the door behind her. He could hear her sobbing through the door and he winced.

He hated it when she cried, it tore something apart inside of him. _Maybe I'm being too hard on her,_ the sympathetic part of his mind whispered. _No, you have to stick by what you said. She's just being a typical stubborn child, trying to get her own way. She has to learn the consequences of her actions, and acknowledge that she was wrong. I'll be damned if I'm going to have another Malfoy on my hands, who never accepts responsibility for his actions and lies to get out of trouble._

He sighed, and resigned himself to a long day inside. At least he could grade the rest of his exams while he waited out her little tempest. He summoned Dobby, informing the house elf that he was going to have breakfast in his rooms this morning, and so too was Marietta.

"Right away, Master Snape," Dobby bowed, then disappeared.

Some five minutes later a tray appeared on the small table in the living room. It contained all manner of breakfast items, eggs, toast, waffles, bacon, sausage, tea and chocolate milk.

Severus cocked an ear toward the bedroom door. All was quiet. He rose and opened the door softly, peering into the bedroom. Marietta was lying facedown on her bed, Sevvy clutched in one grubby fist.

"Marietta, come and eat breakfast."

She lifted her head from the pillow. Tear tracks mixed with spatters of red paint streaked her little face. She looked pitiful and he felt like an ogre, even though he knew he was right. "I'm not hungry."

"Fine." He turned to go back into the sitting room. "But it's a long time until lunch."

He sat down on the couch, fixing himself a plate and a cup of tea. The best approach now was to act as if nothing were the matter. Children her age hated to be ignored that way. He began to eat, keeping an ear out for any sound from the bedroom.

He heard a slight thump, as of a small body sliding off a bed. Then she appeared in the doorway, unable to ignore the delicious smells from the tray any longer. Sevvy's leash was in one hand and the dog was dragged after her as she came towards the table.

"I'm hungry now."

He gestured at the tray. "Pick out what you want and I'll cut it for you."

She did, choosing a waffle, bacon, and some eggs. He poured her a glass of milk and she sat on the opposite end of the couch and ate her breakfast without saying anything. When she was done, she put her empty dishes on the tray and stood staring down at the carpet.

"Are you ready to say you're sorry now?" he prompted, sensing her resolve was weakening.

She bit her lip, considering. After several long minutes, she nodded. "I'm sorry for drawing on your walls."

"Don't _ever_ do that again, am I understood?"

"Yes." She looked up at him expectantly. "Now it's your turn."

He drew in a breath. Then he said quietly, "I apologize for insulting your work, Marietta. I like your drawings, but only on paper, _not_ my living room wall. Next time you want to make me a picture, do it on a piece of parchment, same as always."

"But I wanted it to look like Christmas in here."

"Listen, minx. I have plenty of decorations at home in my other house, because that's where I spend my holidays now. I don't really need them here, that's why I didn't bother decorating this place."

"Oh."

"Still mad at me?"

"Only a little."

He gave a wry chuckle. "You're an Amarotti, all right. As stubborn as ten mules and a mountain goat, just like your Aunt Amelia was and Arista is." _But not as stubborn as a Snape, my girl,_ he thought in relief.

"My dad said I could give a mule stubborn lessons."

"Your dad is one hundred percent correct," her uncle said, hiding a smirk. "You need a bath. You've got paint all over you." he indicated her paint spattered cheeks, arms, and feet, where the paint brush had dripped on her bare toes.

"I'm a paint monster. Arrr!" she growled, pretending to look scary, crooking her hands into claws and baring her teeth in an awful grimace.

"A paint monster, huh? I eat them for breakfast," he snorted, then growled right back at her, reaching out to pull her on his lap, where he pretended to nibble on her fingers. "Mmm. You taste delicious."

Marietta giggled helplessly. "No! Don' eat me, please!"

"Why not? I'm starving."

"Because if you eat me, I'll give you an awful tummy ache."

He laughed at her clever answer. "Very well, I'll save you for later." He rose to his feet, tossing her half over his shoulder. "Come on, paint monster. Let's get you cleaned up. We'll use the faculty bathroom."


	10. Pink Bubbles & Maneating Giant Squids

**Pink Bubbles & Man-Eating Giant Squids**

**This is a fluffy chapter with a side of Sev that you'd almost never see!**

The staff had a huge sunken bath with a whirlpool and faucets that poured seventeen kinds of bubble bath into the water. It was perfect for soaking the stress of a long day teaching obnoxious wizard children away. Snape used it on a regular basis.

No child had ever crossed its threshold, the students didn't even know it existed, for Dumbledore had spelled the door with a forgetful charm. Snape figured it wouldn't matter if he took Marietta in there, since she wasn't a student and she wouldn't remember how to find her way back there again anyhow.

He cancelled the charm on the door before opening it and stepping inside. Had someone been using the bath, the door would have charmed in warning, but the room was empty, much to Snape's relief.

Severus began running the water into the huge tub, with its tiled mosaics of goldfish and other marine creatures. The walls were a soothing blue and had a wave pattern etched into them. There was a bench next to the bath with mounds of fluffy towels and bathrobes as well an assortment of creams and lotions, most of them made by the Potions Master himself. There was also a huge counter and two sinks with a large mirror over them. The counter was filled with every kind of toiletry imaginable. Off to the left was a curtained off commode. Recessed lights provided a soft ambience to the room, and could be increased with a word, so you could see to fix your hair or apply make-up as needed.

"What kind of bubble bath do you want?" he asked the child.

"What kinds are there?"

He began to read them off. "Honey, lemon sherbet, raspberry, lavender, sage and citrus, strawberry, melon, gardenia, sandalwood, lily, orange-mango, pomegranate, blueberry, sugar and spice, freesia, white pine, and a new one, gingerbread." He wrinkled his nose in distaste. "Now who in God's name would want to smell like gingerbread? I think Albus is getting senile."

"I want the strawberry one, Uncle Sev."

"Strawberry it is." He turned on the appropriate tap and pink bubble bath poured into the tub, making the water pink and frothy with tons of pink bubbles.

Severus quickly chose a large sea sponge and a mild shampoo and conditioner from the cabinet beside the sink. By then the tub was nearly full. Marietta was already removing her clothes with undue haste, eying the bubble filled water eagerly.

"Just a minute there," he put a hand on her shoulder just as she was about to dive into the water. "You can't swim, can you?"

"Not yet. But Mom's going to teach me this summer."

"Then you need a floating charm first, since this bath's as big as a swimming pool." He quickly cast it on her, then let her jump into the water.

She shrieked in glee, splashing bubbles and water everywhere, but the charm prevented her from going totally under the water. She could play all she wanted and never fear drowning. "Hey, Uncle Sev, where are the bath toys?"

"I'll conjure up some for you once you're clean. Come here and let me scrub the paint off you."

She swam obediently over to the edge of the tub and he quickly washed her with the sea sponge. She giggled and wriggled, splashing him with water.

"Marietta, hold still!"

"Can't. It tickles."

But at last she was clean and her hair washed to his satisfaction. Then he conjured a few bath toys, including a pirate ship, a mermaid that swam, a seal, and a giant black rubber squid.

She played happily with them for ten minutes or so, shipwrecking the pirates, who then got rescued by the mermaid and the seal, then drowning them with the squid. "Hey, Uncle Sev!"

He turned to look at her.

And got a faceful of water when she made the mermaid jump up and splash him with her tail.

He sputtered, wiping the water out of his eyes with a towel. "Why, you little sneak!"

Marietta was laughing her head off. "Got you!"

"Think that's funny, huh?" he mock-growled. "Let's see how funny you find the Great Sea Beast!"

He gestured, and the giant squid wrapped a tentacle about her left ankle and tugged, half- dragging her under the water.

She screamed in surprise, kicking out at the black squid, who promptly wrapped another tentacle about her other foot and two more crept up her body to tickle her under the arms. She was convulsed with laughter. "Stop, Uncle Sev! Please!" she begged, giggling uncontrollably. "You win!"

"Do you surrender?" he growled, making the squid wave a tentacle at her face.

"Yes! Yes! Just no more tickling!"

He grinned wickedly. "Oh, but I _like_ tickling naughty girls, especially ones that paint on their uncle's walls."

"No! No! Ahhh!" she pretended to shrink back in fear, her blue eyes dancing. She splashed bubbles frantically at the squid, who coiled its tentacles, preparing to strike.

She managed to swim a bit due to the charm, enough so he could send the squid after her beneath the water, tickling her foot or her belly with a tentacle until she begged for mercy.

They were so engrossed in their little game that they never heard the door chime. Minerva poked her head in, drawn by the sound of screams, and blinked in shock when she caught sight of them. "Mercy, Severus, what are you doing to the poor child?"

Snape jerked about so fast he nearly fell into the bath. "Oh, it's only you, Minerva," he gasped when he caught sight of the Transfiguration teacher. "I'm, uh, giving Marietta a bath."

"And yourself too, from the looks of it," she snickered, eyeing him.

Severus glanced down at himself in dismay, for he was soaked and covered with pink bubbles. "Er . . .Marietta wanted to play . . .that's why I look like this . . ."

"We're playing Man Eating Giant Squid!" the little girl shouted. "Uncle Sev makes the squid swim after me and tickle me to death."

Minerva smiled. "What a wonderful game. It sounds like fun."

"It is. Want to play with us?"

Minerva blushed. "Some other time maybe, dear. But thank you for offering. Well, I'll leave you two alone to finish your bath." She winked at Severus. "Have fun!"

Then she was out the door, before Snape could ask her not to mention what she'd seen. He sighed. He could only hope Minerva was discreet and didn't mention to anyone that she'd seen the strict Potions Master covered in bubbles playing silly games in a bathtub with his niece. His reputation would be ruined for certain if _that_ ever got out.

He turned back to Marietta. "All right, playtime's over. Time to get dried off and dressed, imp."

"Aww. But I want to play some more with the giant squid."

"The squid's tired."

"Is not," she pouted.

"Very well. One more game, then out you get," he compromised.

The squid began to slip through the water, tentacles writhing, searching for a little girl to tickle. And the bathroom echoed to the joyful sound of a child's laughter.

**Something awful happens next--Marietta meets Umbridge!! *shiver!***


	11. The Wicked Witch of Hogwarts

**The Wicked Witch of Hogwarts**

**CP warning--use of a ruler in this chapter!**

No one ever mentioned giant squids or pink bubbles to Severus that day, much to his vast relief. The rest of the day passed without mishap, and Snape began to think he'd outlasted Marietta the Menace's streak of mischief. It was three days till Christmas Eve and Severus had just received an owl from Paul and Sandy.

Paul's father was on the road to recovery. (He'd had a mild heart attack). The DiSarno's would be coming back to spend Christmas with him in London, scheduled to arrive on Christmas Eve.

That left Snape with precious little time to prepare dinner and go shopping. Thus he enlisted Arista and her friends, who were shopaholics beyond compare, to help him out. He sent them to Diagon Alley via the Floo Network with a list of presents to purchase and a sack of Galleons and Sickles. He'd shop himself for dinner and Marietta's present, since he'd memorized the recipes and the little girl's present could not be bought ahead of time.

During her stay at Hogwarts, Marietta had met all of the teachers still in attendance at the school till the end of the term, save one. That one exception was the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Dolores Umbridge.

Umbridge, a woman in her late fifties, had been given the post by the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, when Dumbledore had failed to hire a teacher at the beginning of the year. She was one of those people who made the hairs on the back of Snape's neck bristle. She was the Ministry's puppet through and through and he did not trust her at all. She was saccharine sweet, but there was a core of poison in her, and she cared less about teaching magic than she did teaching Ministry approved ideals.

Several of his Slytherin students had complained about her teaching methods in his hearing. Apparently she only knew a dull dry textbook, refused to teach them defensive spells at all, claiming they had no need to learn them since they wouldn't be fighting anything like a dark wizard. She even went so far as to claim Voldemort's return was a hoax.

A hoax indeed! Severus sneered. She was as willfully blind as her master, Fudge, both of them fools who thought that pretending a threat didn't exist made it go away. It was exactly that kind of attitude that had gotten so many wizards killed during the last time Voldemort rose to power.

Even Arista, who was normally never one to judge her teachers unfairly, said Umbridge reminded her of a Nazi. "I don't like her, Dad. I know I ought to respect her cause she's my elder, but that woman's pure evil. Not Voldemort or Crouch evil, but evil because she refuses to see any point of view except her own narrow one. She deliberately blinds herself to the truth and tries to force us to do the same. She's power-hungry, she wants a position of authority here bad, Dad, and the Minister's just given it to her. It's made her a dictator, and worse, cause she really hates kids, not just pretends to the way you do. She makes my skin crawl."

Severus had learned long ago to trust Arista's judgment when it came to people, an empathy rarely ever read a person's heart wrong. Besides, his own instincts warned him that the woman was dangerous as well, and thus he was doubly wary. None of the other teachers liked Umbridge either, regarding her as an uppity newcomer who'd taken her Ministry authority to an unheard of extreme. She had announced she would be examining the whole staff when they taught, to see if they followed Ministry approved methods, and if they didn't she had the authority to fire them. The sheer nerve of the woman! It was all he could do to remain icily polite to her and not tell her where she could shove her Ministry-approved methods.

As a result, he kept Marietta away from her, not wanting to risk his outspoken niece saying something offensive to the old hag. Umbridge was the kind of woman who talked to kids as if they were too stupid to understand anything, and his intrepid little minx would never put up with that, she was too independent to tolerate being talked down to. Thank God, Umbridge rarely took meals with the staff so he didn't have to worry about sitting beside her at meals, or that Marietta would either. The rest of the faculty loved the child and he had no fear she would ever come to harm with them, but Umbridge . . .best she keep her distance.

After he'd sent Arista off on his errand, he began packing to go home. Then he received a summons from Dumbledore, requesting he come to the other's office, something about Lucius Malfoy wishing to speak with him regarding Draco. Severus scowled. Draco had probably gone whining to Daddy as soon as he got home, complaining about how unfairly he'd been treated, the cringing crybaby. Well, he'd soon set Lucius straight, he thought grimly. _Nobody hurts my niece and gets off, I don't care who his father is or what kind of family background he's got!_ Snape thought angrily. He was sick and tired of these privileged rich kids thinking who the blazes they were and that they had the right to walk all over people.

Marietta was playing with Sevvy in the living room, and after yesterday's disaster, he dared not leave her unattended. But neither did he want to take her along with him to the meeting, for the confrontation with Lucius was sure to be unpleasant, and Dumbledore would wish to be present at it, to prevent blood from being spilled, most likely. Thus Severus could not ask him to watch Marietta.

Arista and the girls were out too, and he hated to impose on Minerva or Pomona, who were probably busy packing as well. Snape sighed dolefully. There was no help for it. He'd have to bring her along, and hope she behaved herself and didn't start telling off Lucius.

But on the way there he caught sight of Kit coming out of the dining hall. Though Kit was a Gryffindor, he could be relied upon to complete a task well and he was less reckless and irresponsible than most of his House. He was also Arista's friend and Marietta was comfortable around him.

"Ambrosius, a word with you," he called to the boy.

"Yes, sir?" Kit halted immediately. "Is there a problem, Professor?"

"Would you mind keeping Marietta occupied for a bit? I have a meeting to attend and she can't be with me."

"Hi, Kit!" Marietta piped up. She let go of Snape's hand and grinned up at the older boy. "Want to play with me and Sevvy? We're bored."

Kit smiled down at her. "Sure. No problem, Professor. I'll watch her. How long d'you think you'll be?"

"I'm not sure, but say, perhaps an hour. Can you handle her that long, Ambrosius?"

Kit nodded. "Don't worry, sir. We'll play hide-and-seek or something, right, Marietta?"

The little girl jumped up and down. "Yay! I love hide-and-seek. It's my favorite game."

"Good. You play with Kit and I'll see you soon. Behave now," Severus ordered, then spoke the password to Dumbledore's office and went up the stairs.

Kit, resigned to spending an hour playing hide-and-seek with a four-year-old, looked at Marietta and said, "C'mon, kid, no sense in trying to play here, there aren't enough places to hide. Let's go up a floor, there's lots of empty classrooms up there."

"Okay. Me and Sevvy want to hide first, so you're It."

At first, all went well. They played hide-and-seek all through the right hand corridor of the second floor, and Marietta had a blast. She was good at this game, and it usually took Kit around ten minutes to find her, since she could squeeze into tiny spaces, like under teacher's desks or inside cabinets. In addition to the game, Kit also told her jokes, and unlike his friends, who'd heard most of them, Marietta found them hilarious.

Kit eve began to enjoy himself. This babysitting thing isn't so bad, he thought, covering his eyes and beginning to count for the third time. But he hadn't reckoned on Marietta growing bored with hiding down the right-hand corridor. "Let's try this way, Sevvy, she said to the black dog. "It's funner this way, and he'll never find us down here."

Then she skipped blithely down the left-hand corridor.

Only to discover that most of the rooms on this side were locked. "Rats! Now what do we do?" Then she spied a room at the very end of the hallway that had a door open. "Let's try that one, Sevvy. Quick, before Kit finds us!"

She ran down the hall and straight into Umbridge's office, which the teacher had left open when she went to fetch a book from her room.

The first thing she noticed when she set foot in the office was that was pink, one of her favorite colors. The second thing was that it had rows and rows of kitten plates on the wall.

"Look, Sevvy! Kitten pictures!" she went closer, examining them. "Aww! How cute! I love kittens. I wish I had one. D'you think Santa will bring me one for Christmas?"

Sevvy, being stuffed, didn't answer.

"Maybe, if I promise to be good for Uncle Sev?" she answered for the dog. "I can do that. I'm being good now, playing hide-and-seek like he told me, right, Sevvy?"

She glanced about the office. "Where can I hide here?"

She spied a partially open armoire, where once Lupin had trapped a boggart inside. The boggart was gone now, and all Umbridge used the armoire for was storing her lace doilies and pink table cloths. "That looks good."

Marietta made her way to the armoire, pushing it open wider and beginning to climb inside it. Kit would never find her in here, she thought in satisfaction.

"Ahem! Ahem!" came a soft cough from behind her. "And just what do you think you're doing, little girl, poking your nose into my cabinet?"

Marietta turned around and saw a short rather plump woman with brown hair going a bit gray dressed in a paisley skirt and a pink sweater standing behind her. The woman was frowning in disapproval, but Marietta was used to that, most adults wore that expression around her. "I'm playing hide-and-seek with Kit," she explained. "Sevvy and I were going to hide in here, in this cabinet." She held Sevvy up so Umbridge could see him.

Umbridge was not impressed. "You and that—that dirty old dog were playing hide-and-seek in _my_ office?" she sniffed. "Don't you know better than to walk into a room uninvited?"

"But there was no one in here," Marietta pointed out. "And Sevvy's not a dirty old dog. He's my bestest friend!"

Umbridge smiled sweetly at her. "Little girls should be seen and not heard. Didn't your mother ever teach you that? Little girls also ought not to play around in grown-up's offices."

"But I wasn't playing, I was hiding," Marietta repeated. To her, there was a vast difference.

Umbridge's eyes narrowed. "Little girls also shouldn't contradict their elders."

"What's contradict mean?"

"Answer them back, like you're doing, naughty child!"

"But I'm not!"

"There, you see? You're doing it again. It's plain your parents never taught you any manners. Otherwise you'd say I'm sorry, Miss Umbridge, for being rude and touching things that don't belong to me. Now, can you say that?"

"Of course. I'm not stupid."

"Then say it," Umbridge ordered. "Say I'm sorry, Miss Umbridge."

"But why? I didn't do anything bad."

"Now, we mustn't tell lies, must we?" Umbridge asked in a deadly sweet tone. "Lying is very VERY bad, child."

"I'm not lying," Marietta insisted. "I didn't touch anything."

"I saw you with your grubby fingers in my cabinet. What did you take? One of my lace doilies?" Umbridge leaned forward menacingly. "Tell me the truth, child."

Marietta backed away. "I am! I don't like you, lady! You don't listen and you're nasty."

"And _you're_ a rude impudent brat who needs a lesson in manners!" Umbridge snapped. "Now apologize to me this instant!"

"No! You're mean and nasty like the witch in Hansel and Gretel, and you can't make me!" she gave Umbridge her most mulish expression.

"Can't I?" the other purred. "Lying little brats like you get punished, you know." She moved forward, pinning Marietta back against the cabinet.

"I'm not a brat!" Marietta cried, beginning to be afraid. "And you can't punish me. Only my uncle's allowed to do that. My mom said so."

"Well, he's done a pretty poor job so far, you ill-mannered little beast!" Umbridge hissed.

Marietta made as if to push past her. "Get away from me, you old harpy!" she shouted, using a word she'd heard her cousins call a woman once.

"A harpy, am I?" Umbridge went red. It was the worst insult Marietta could have said, given that she hated half-human creatures. Then she grabbed Marietta's arm, holding her fast. "Your mother should've taught you better manners, but since she didn't—I WILL!"

"Let me go!"

Umbridge ignored her, snatching a small ruler off of her desk. "Naughty brats like you get punished like this!" she spat, and lifted the ruler. "_That's_ for lying."

She brought the ruler down hard on the child's hand, leaving a livid red welt.

Marietta screamed. "You can't hit me! I'm telling!" She tried to pull away, but the woman was too strong.

_Crack!_ The ruler slapped down on Marietta's hand.

"And _that's_ for being a rude child and calling me a harpy."

"UNCLE SEV!" Marietta wailed, utterly terrified now, sobbing hysterically.

Kit, who had been searching frantically for Marietta, heard her screams and raced down the left-hand corridor. He darted into Umbridge's office, saw the evil hag standing over Marietta with a ruler, and yelled, "Hey, you can't do that, Professor! Leave her alone!"

Umbridge whirled around. "Get out of here. Mr. Ambrosius. This doesn't concern you."

Kit glared at her. "The bloody hell it doesn't." He almost reached for his wand. Then he thought of something better. "PROFESSOR SNAPE! COME HERE, QUICK!"

Marietta quickly added her voice to his.

A deaf mute could have heard them.

Severus had just come out of Dumbledore's office, still smoldering from his confrontation with Lucius Malfoy. The two children's shouts echoed all the way down the stairs.

Recognizing Marietta's howl, he drew his wand and bolted up the stairs.

"UNCLE SEV! HELP! THE NASTY OLD WITCH IS HURTING ME!"

Severus ran down the left hand corridor, his eyes blazing. _The nasty old witch,_ he thought frantically. _Umbridge. Her office is here._ He reached the office scant seconds later, seeing Kit standing defiantly in front of Umbridge, who was glaring at him fit to kill. She was holding Marietta by one hand, who was hysterical. To his horror, he saw the little girl's palm bore two red livid welts and Umbridge had a ruler in her other hand, poised to strike.

"Bloody hell, woman!" he shouted, ripping the ruler out of her hand. "How _dare_ you hit my niece!"

Umbridge was so startled she loosened her grip on Marietta, who pulled free and ran to hide behind Severus's legs, still sobbing incoherently.

"Professor Snape! How _dare_ you address me in such a manner?"

"I'll address you any way I please, Umbridge," he spat, his eyes glowing with fury. "Who do you think you are, hurting my niece like that? Nobody punishes Marietta but me." He gave her his most vicious glare.

"Which you plainly haven't been doing, since she's such a lying, ill-mannered little brat," Umbridge declared. "Answering me back, touching my things, what kind of little monster are you raising here?"

Severus's hands balled into fists and he struggled to keep from reaching out and strangling the smug woman. He had never longed to commit violence on a woman before the way he did then. "If she did something she shouldn't of, madam, all you had to do was come and tell me, _not_ hit her with a damn ruler! What the hell were you thinking?"

"That she could use a lesson in manners, Mr. Snape!"

"She doesn't get her lessons with rulers, Miss Umbridge!" he snarled. "And you dare call _her_ a monster? Best look to yourself first, Professor. You presume too much, Umbridge, thinking you have the right to discipline her." He could feel Marietta trembling against his leg, she had wrapped one arm about him in a death grip and pressed her face into his robe. He could feel her tears dampening it and it made him long to curse the insensitive evil hag until she begged for mercy.

"It's a violation of school and Ministry policy to have that _child_," she stabbed a finger at Marietta. "—rampaging through the school wreaking havoc wherever she goes. She doesn't belong here."

Snape drew himself up to his full height, he towered over the smaller Umbridge by at east a foot. "You're right, Umbridge. She doesn't belong here, she belongs at home with me, away from people like you, who haven't the faintest idea how to treat a child."

Umbridge gasped. "_I'm_ a monster? _I_ haven't the faintest idea how to treat a child? _You're_ the one who lets her run wild, Snape. She lacks discipline, in my opinion."

"Who asked you?" he growled. "_That_ for your discipline, madam!" He snapped the ruler in two and threw the pieces on the floor. "If I were any less of a gentleman, I'd have used it on _you_ first!" He swept her a scathing contemptuous glance. "Come, Marietta, we're going home." He picked up his shivering child and strode from the room, leaving Dolores Umbridge gaping after him in shock.

"Well, I _never_! The nerve of that—that insufferable man!" They heard her mutter.

Kit whistled in admiration. "Guess you told _her_, sir. About time too!"

"That woman is totally out of control," Snape murmured furiously. "Thinking she has the right to go around hitting little children. Albus is going to hear about this and so is the Minister, she ought to be fired immediately."

"She's a menace, all right." Kit agreed. "Everyone hates her."

"Uncle Sev?"

"Yes, sweetling?"

"I never did anything and she hit me for nothing."

"I know. She's a wicked old bat, but you won't have to worry about her ever again, since we're leaving as soon as Arista gets back."

"My hand really hurts," she whimpered.

"Yes, I know. I'm sorry I wasn't quicker. We'll put some ice on it, that'll numb it until Arista can heal it." He winced in sympathy, for he knew exactly how badly her hand stung, he'd been belted with a stick when he was a child by his father for nothing too.

As it turned out, they didn't need the ice, for Arista returned from her shopping trip at that moment. She gently took the little girl's palm, which was red and throbbing, in her own and summoned a flicker of her gift. White fire outlined their hands for a brief instant, then it faded. Mareitta's palm was now unmarked.

"There! All better, Marietta."

"Thanks, Arista," She looked up at her uncle. "Now can we go home?"

"Yes, Marietta, now we can go home to London," he answered, and summoned all their trunks down to the entrance hall.

"Don't forget the silver bell," she reminded him.

"I won't," he reassured her, then whistled for Scout and Comfrey.

They took the Hogwarts Express back to London, after Snape had informed Dumbledore they were leaving and about Umbridge's vile behavior. Dumbledore was sorry to see them go, and gave Severus an entire bag of candy for Marietta as an apology for the way Umbridge had treated her. "Tell Marietta Merry Christmas from me and I hope to see her again one day."

"I will. See you next term, Albus. Merry Christmas."

**Next: Christmas at the Snape house and a surprise for Severus.**


	12. The Best Christmas Present Ever

**The Best Christmas Present Ever**

**A/N: The song Marietta's Christmas Carol is based on the original Christmas carol The Twelve Days of Christmas, author unknown.**

**  
**It was Christmas Eve, and Severus, Arista, Trish, and Marietta were waiting in the secret glen for Paul and Sandy to arrive on Fireflash. Earlier that day, they had built a snowman in the center of the glen, decorating it with one of Snape's old hats, a carrot nose, shoe button eyes, a worn cape of Arista's, and two sticks with mittens for hands.

They'd even had a snowball fight, with Snape and Marietta on one team versus Arista and Trish on the other. Snape's team won, due to the professor's wicked Severus Sidewinder, a curveball he could throw like a pro.

Arista said later he should have been a pitcher for the New York Yankees, he would have made millions.

"And you're not even using magic," Trish lamented.

"I don't need magic to beat you," her guardian said loftily. "You two throw like little girls."

"Oh, be quiet, Dad!" Arista groaned, then nailed him in the face with a sneak attack.

"You little wretch!" he yelled, brushing the snow off him. "Wait'll I get a hold of you!"

He chased her all over the glen, pretending to be furious with her. Arista was laughing so hard she couldn't run fast enough, and he ended up throwing her into a snowbank.

"That'll teach you, you disrespectful brat!" he chuckled.

Arista made a face at him. They returned to the house to get warmed up before traveling back to the glen to wait for the dragon's arrival. Suddenly they saw a bronze dot in the sky and then Fireflash landed neatly in the glen with his usual flair, touching down on three talons.

He promptly serenaded all of them with the carol, "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear", making the adults chuckle at his wit. Trish was in awe of the big bronze, saying she'd never seen a dragon so handsome. Fireflash preened in delight, spreading his beautiful wings so the moonlight shone on them, turning them to silvery green, gold, and blue.

"Now don't go telling him that too often, Trish!" Sandy laughed. "He's already conceited enough as it is." She gave the dragon's shoulder an affectionate thump.

"It's not conceit if it's true," Fireflash snorted. "The kid knows class when she sees it, that's all."

Since it was Christmas, none of the other wizards wanted to get into and argument with the dragon over that statement, and none of them responded to it with anything but a few eye rolls and muffled snickers, all of which Fireflash ignored loftily.

After Fireflash had departed, they all Apparated back to Spinner's End, where Severus had hot apple cider and cocoa waiting for them, as well as gingerbread cookies freshly baked that morning. While the DiSarnos and the girls warmed themselves by the fireplace, Severus went into the kitchen to finish preparing dinner.

He had made a pan of lasagna, Parmesan garlic bread, a small ham glazed with brown sugar, green beans with almonds, cheddar & bacon potatoes, Arista had made an apple-walnut salad and they had shrimp cocktail as an appetizer.

Everyone stuffed themselves, declaring it was a wonderful dinner, and Scout and Comfrey got tons of leftovers, since there was far too much food to consume at one sitting. Arista and Trish helped clean up and she told her friend they'd probably be eating leftovers Christmas Day. Neither of them minded, it was better than making Snape cook two dinners in a row.

For dessert there was a Christmas nut pie, a recipe gotten from Jenna Flynn, Arista's former teacher from America. Trish had made a fruit salad, they ate the rest of the gingerbread cookies, and Sandy had brought over Ari's mouthwatering iced molasses cookies, an Amarotti specialty. The adults drank coffee and tea, the kids had milk, cocoa, or spiced cider.

Afterwards, they sat in the den near the tree and Marietta told her parents how Draco had almost killed Sevvy and how Dumbledore (who looks like Santa) had resurrected him.

"So, is he your new hero, Marietta?" her father asked, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

His daughter shook her head. "No, Uncle Sev still is, 'cause he rescued me from the Wicked Witch of Hogwarts."

"Who's that?" Sandy asked.

"Dolores Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark teacher," Trish replied. "She's horrible, worse than my mother in a snit."

"Let's not talk about her now," Severus put in quickly, not wanting to spoil the holiday. "She's enough to give me indigestion."

"Can we open presents now, Uncle Sev?" Marietta asked eagerly. "Can we?"

"Do you think there are any presents under there with your name on them, imp?" he teased.

"Yes. I wasn't _that_ bad for you, was I?"

Paul and Sandy looked at him.

Severus pretended to frown sternly. "Well . . .no, you behaved as well as could be expected, little minx." He glanced at Arista. "You can give her yours first."

From Arista , Trish, Mel, and Kit, Marietta got a brand new Prismari-Lumos wand, one that could cast only those two spells as many times as you wanted. "Awesome!" Marietta cried, grinning from ear to ear. "Now I've got a wand just like yours, Uncle Sev."

"Almost like mine," he smiled.

Paul received a very nice pair of griffin-hide gloves and a gold and blue cashmere scarf from Severus, Arista, and Trish. For Sandy, there was a beautiful lace shawl with pretty silver and pink beads and a bottle of perfume Severus had made called "Italian Roses."

"Oh, Sev, it's beautiful!" Sandy exclaimed. "And, oh, is Terri gone be jealous when she finds out I have a perfume just for me."

"No, she won't. I made her one too," Severus laughed. "Only hers is called "Peaceful Waters" and is made with citrus and lily of the valley."

He handed her a brightly wrapped package to take back to Terri. For Drew and Nick, Severus's twin nephews, he'd gotten wands like Marietta's, so they wouldn't fight over hers. Leo was given packets of rare herbs and seeds for his garden and Ari a new veterinary compendium.

"But what about you, Uncle Sev? What did you get me?" Marietta asked.

"Something you've always wanted," he replied. Then he called, "Scout, bring Marietta's present in here."

The big magehound rose from where he'd been gnawing his Christmas bone and trotted out of the room.

Sandy and Paul traded mystified glances. "Sev, what on earth . . .?" Paul began.

Scout trotted back into the room, walking slowly and carefully, carrying a tiny ball of reddish-gold fur in his mouth.

"Tell me that's not a dog!" Sandy gasped.

Scout marched right up to Marietta, who was seated on Severus's lap, and gently placed the sleeping kitten in her arms. "A kitten! My very own kitten!" Marietta hugged the tiny cat to her excitedly. The kitten woke up and mewed in protest. "Look, Mom! She's got green eyes. I love her! She's the bestest present ever. Thank you, Uncle Sev!"

"You're welcome. I figured every little girl needs a cat. This one is part orange fairy cat, which means she can move fast as lightning and her growl will scare away anyone with evil intentions. They were once used as guardians of druid temples long ago, and are very loyal and protective to their owners."

"Really? But she's so small," Marietta said, gently stroking the kitten, who was purring happily.

"Now she is," Arista laughed. "She won't be in a few months. Her breed can get up to around fifteen pounds. And the fairy blood makes them very long-lived. She can get as old as thirty-five, like my Comfrey."

Severus handed Marietta another small package. "This is from Drake Lockwood, remember him from last summer? He helped me pick out the kitten for you, since his father's a vet and he knows the best breeders around here."

Marietta nodded. "He got a magehound puppy at the dog show." She tore open the package. Inside was a small pink collar with a brass heart-shaped tag on it. "A collar for my kitty! With a nametag like Sevvy's."

"What are you going to call her, Marietta?" Trish asked.

"Ummm . . ."

"Wait, before you answer that," Severus broke in hastily. "I have a favor to ask you."

"What?"

"Please don't name her Severina. Please."

Marietta laughed. "That's a silly name for a cat, Uncle Sev. I'm going to call her Ember, 'cause she's orange like a fire. Ember kitty. How do you like that?" she asked the kitten.

The kitten opened her eyes and looked at her mistress, mewing in approval. Marietta put the collar on her, which now bore the name Ember on the nametag.

"Ember is a wonderful name," Severus said, heaving a vast sigh of relief.

"And now, here are some presents from your Amarotti relatives," Sandy announced.

From Leo and Ari, they all received sets of hand-carved bookends. Arista's had a cat sleeping, Trish's a butterfly, and Snape's had an owl that looked remarkably like Nightfall. Terri had sent them each gift certificates to Flourish and Blotts, since all of them were avid readers. From Sandy, Paul, and Marietta, the girls received beautiful silk scarves—Arista's was turquoise and Trish's rose.

"And this is from Paul and I, Sev," Sandy handed him a flat package.

"Amarotti Family Recipes," he read the title. "A cookbook. I can certainly use this. Thank you." He smiled at them. Then he recalled another present. "Oh, and here's a present for you, Marietta from Professor Dumbledore." He summoned the bag of candy and gave it to her.

Her eyes lit up. "Wow!"

"Now promise me you'll only eat one or two pieces a day," Severus cautioned.

"I will. I don't want to get another tummy ache." Then she reached into the bag and took out an Acid Pop.

"Do you girls want your presents from me now or tomorrow?" Snape asked his daughter and Trish.

"Now!" they chorused.

He summoned them with a snap of his fingers. Arista got a phoenix bracelet to match her locket and earrings. She also received a huge Healer's Herbal—One Thousand and One Beneficial Plants for Every Ailment.

"_That's_ why you wouldn't let me come in the bookstore with you," she accused Trish, who was smirking.

"Well, duh! How was I supposed to get it if you were there?" Then she handed Arista a box wrapped in blue paper. "Got you this to go with it from me."

Arista tore it open. "Scales and measuring spoons. Thanks a bunch, Trish."

Severus's last gift to Arista was two new rings for her spellophone. "So now you can call Drake and Kit too," he said. The spellophone was the wizard version of a Muggle cellphone.

"Awesome. Thanks, Dad!" She hugged him.

Trish was in transports over her jewelry. "I'm going to wear it to the Yule Ball," she said excitedly, putting them on. "Actually, I'll wear them everyday. They're beautiful. Thanks so much, Severus." Then she jumped up and hugged him too.

"Why, Trish," he said softly. "Did I hear you right? You called me Severus."

She blushed, for he'd told her to call him that when he'd adopted her, but she never had. "Yeah, I did. It feels right now, 'cause you're more than just my teacher." Then she waved her wand and a small package appeared in her other hand. "Merry Christmas, sir."

He opened it, it was another certificate to Flourish and Blotts. "How did you know I needed another one?"

"With the way you read books, sir, you could probably use a dozen," Trish answered, laughing. She also got a set of jeweled inks and stationary from Arista and two more rings for her spellophone.

Marietta slipped off of Severus's lap and ran into the bedroom. She emerged a moment later carrying a drawing. "This is one of my presents for you, Uncle Sev."

It was a picture of her and Severus stirring a potion together, the potion was all colors of the rainbow. "This is the Kaleidoscope Potion you taught me to make," she told him, smiling.

"Now this is a wonderful picture, Marietta. I'll hang it in my office." Severus said, and hugged her.

"But that's not all," she said, then looked at Arista. "Is it time now, Arista?"

"You bet, imp." Arista gestured and Marietta came to stand beside her. "Dad, remember how you told Marietta that she could pick a Christmas carol for her very own? And that I'd teach her all the ones I knew?"

Severus nodded.

"Well, she said none of them were quite right, so we made one up ourselves. I composed it and now Marietta will sing it. This one's from both of us, Dad. Merry Christmas!"

She clapped her hands and an invisible band began to play the music from "The Twelve Days of Christmas" though Marietta's song was quite different from the original.

The little girl began to sing the following Christmas carol in a beautiful soprano:

**Marietta's Christmas Carol**

**  
**_On the first day of Christmas, Uncle Sev got from me, a cup of chamomile tea._

_On the second day of Christmas, Uncle Sev got from me, two green ties and a cup of chamomile tea._

_On the third day of Christmas Uncle Sev got from me, three magic potions, two green ties, and a cup of chamomile tea._

_On the fourth day of Christmas Uncle Sev got from me, four new recipes, three magic potions, two green ties, and a cup of chamomile tea._

_On the fifth day of Christmas, Uncle Sev got from me, Five Golden Galleons, four new recipes, three magic potions, two green ties, and a cup of chamomile tea._

_On the sixth day of Christmas Uncle Sev got from me, six crayon drawings, five Golden Galleons, four new recipes, three magic potions, two green ties, and a cup of chamomile tea._

_On the seventh day of Christmas Uncle Sev got from me, seven quill pens writing, six crayon drawings, five Golden Galleons, four new recipes, three magic potions, two green ties, and a cup of chamomile tea._

_On the eighth day of Christmas, Uncle Sev got from me, eight cauldrons brewing, seven quill pens writing, six crayon drawings, Five Golden Galleons, four new recipes, three magic potions, two green ties, and a cup of chamomile tea._

_On the ninth day of Christmas, Uncle Sev got from me, nine beakers bubbling, eight cauldrons brewing, seven quill pens writing, six crayon drawings, five Golden Galleons, four new recipes, three magic potions, two green ties, and a cup of chamomile tea._

_On the tenth day of Christmas, Uncle Sev got from me, ten hugs and kisses, nine beakers bubbling, eight cauldrons brewing, seven quill pens writing, six crayon drawings, five Golden Galleons, four new recipes, three magic potions, two green ties, and a cup of chamomile tea._

_On the eleventh day of Christmas, Uncle Sev got from me, eleven pieces of parchment, ten hugs and kisses, nine beakers bubbling, eight cauldrons brewing, seven quill pens writing, six crayon drawings, five Golden Galleons, four new recipes, three magic potions, two green ties, and a cup of chamomile tea._

_On the twelfth day of Christmas, Uncle Sev got from me, twelve Potions grimoiries, eleven pieces of parchment, ten hugs and kisses, nine beakers bubbling, eight cauldrons brewing, seven quill pens writing, six crayon drawings, five Golden Galleons, four new recipes, three magic potions, two green ties, and a cup of chamomile tea._

There was dead silence in the room for about ten seconds. Then everyone was applauding and Marietta was bowing and saying, "Did you like my Christmas carol, Uncle Sev?"

"Marietta, it was the best Christmas present ever!" he said, then he grabbed her up in his arms and hugged her, laughing.

**A/N: What did you think of Sev's present from his daughter and niece? It was a great one, right? **

**I've posted my third Arista Snape novel, for all of you who are reading the series, it's called Arista Snape and the Ghosts in the Tower. The 8th chapter should be up shortly. Severus doesn't show up until chapter 7, to give the kids time to have a special adventure of their own in the Tower of London. Features a battle with a new villian, new powers are revealed, and the battle for Hogwarts occurs in this one, plus Snape finally reconciles with Harry after something terrible happens.**

**Also, don't forget to read SHADOW PUPPETS, a Halloween tale with Sev and Marietta, it's lonely only has 2 reviews.**


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